Typhoon Haiyan (2013)

Typhoon Haiyan was a devastating, once in a lifetime storm that ravaged most of the central and southern Philippines during early November 2013. Throughout it's 8 day life, Haiyan claimed at least 7401 lives, and caused $2.86 billion in economic damages. The origins of this historic superstorm an be traced back to a tropical disturbance that developed to the south of Pohnpei on November 1. Moving at a relatively quick pace to the west for most of it's life, Haiyan became a tropical depression on November 3, then a tropical storm early the next day. After becoming a typhoon on November 5, Haiyan began an exceptional phase of explosive intensification, and doubled it's intensity over a period of 18 hours, and becoming a category 5 super typhoon late on November 6. Even after attaining category 5 intensity, Haiayan continued it's impressive rate of intensification, and attained an estimated peak intensity with a pressure of 874 mbar at 1800 UTC on November 7, as the system was making landfall near Toclaban City in the Philippines. I have estimated teh 1-minute winds to have been 205 mph, and the 10-minute winds to have been 150 mph, along with another estimated value, the pressure of 874 mbar. This also corresponds to a pressure reading of 887 mbar that was recorded on the southern edge of the eye near Toclaban a few hours after landfall. Continuing to move over the Philippines, Haiyan began to slowly weaken, and the system emerged into the South China Sea as a moderate category 4 typhoon about 24 hours later, with a disrupted circulation due to land interaction. Although Haiayan did slowly reorganise, the storm deteriorated significantly whilst replacing it's damaged eyewall, and on November 10, the system made landfall in Vietnam as a high end tropical storm. After moving inland, Haiyan rapidly became extratropical, which was was completed by 1200 UTC the following day.