As of early Wednesday (EDT), Tropical Storm Malakas was centered about 650 miles east of Manila, Philippines, and was moving gradually west-northwestward.
Its development was hindered a bit by sinking air resulting from the outflow of Super Typhoon Meranti to its northwest and a bit of wind shear.
Atmospheric conditions are becoming more favorable for development and Makakas will gradually become stronger as it moves away from the influence of Meranti. It will pose no threat to any land masses for awhile, however.
Threat To Japan?
According to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, Malakas will be moving more toward the northwest by Wednesday night and Thursday as it navigates around a subtropical ridge of high pressure aloft.
It will also become stronger and maximum sustained winds could reach the equivalent of a Category 3 or Category 4 hurricane by Thursday night or early Friday.
By then it will be influenced by an upper trough of low pressure aloft and it will begin to curl more toward the north and northeast and could become a threat to Japanese Islands by late Thursday and Thursday night.
All interests on Ishigaki Island and the Ryukyu Islands, including Okinawa and Kadena Air Base, should continue to monitor the track of Malakas and make necessary preparations if needed.
Although Malakas is likely to pass to the east of Taiwan, interests around the northern section of the island should keep track of the storm. Tropical storm force winds could spread as far west as Taipei, Taiwan.
Eventually, Malakas could impact southern mainland Japan this weekend, but it should gradually weaken by then.
Projected Path and Intensity
