ICYMI: Behold mighty #MELISSA in #Jamaica. High-end Category 5. Possibly the most intense #hurricane to make landfall in North America. And the fiercest of all the hurricanes I've witnessed. WATCH: youtu.be/siq-DdmBUIY

Eye of #Typhoon #CHAMPI is nearing tiny island of Yonaguni (black). Inner eyewall brought sudden uptick of winds to 65 knots (10-min) gust 89. To E of center, Iriomote-jima (pink) had 66 knots gust 100. Further E, Ishigaki-jima (purple) had 61 knots gust 90. #Japan

#Tyhoon #CHAMPI is passing very close to #Japan's Yaeyama Islands. Wind reports so far are robust—stronger than was reported on Guam: Hateruma 56 knots gust 83; Iriomote-jima 50 knots gust 83; Ishigaki-jima 47 knots gust 85. @EarthUncutTV is on Ishigaki. Follow him.

Cat-2 #Typhoon #CHAMPI is plodding NW. It looks like the center is going to thread between #Taiwan & Ishigaki-jima #Japan (pink)—probably very close to Yonaguni-jima (yellow), an island which in past typhoons has measured some of the highest winds ever recorded in Japan

Gorgeous. Overwhelmed by the structural perfection. So hawt. #JOSEPHINE

Super #Typhoon #CHAMPI is trekking across the open Pacific with estimated intensity at a whopping 160 knots/895 mb. That's up there with MELISSA when it hit Jamaica last year. An extreme specimen. It'll likely impact #Japan's Ryukyu Islands in a few days at much lower intensity.

As others have pointed out (like @EarthUncutTV), there've been several recent battles between "traditional" physical models & AI models—& AI models have been mostly winning. Here's a new one: Euro ENS & HRES (orange/yellow) plow Super #Typhoon #CHAMPI into Taiwan; Google DeepMind (blue) recurves it into Japan. This is strong bifurcation: there'll be a winner & a loser.

I might need to make this my cover photo.