(Earther) – Snow in the hills outside Los Angeles, move over. There’s a new freak weather event in town. Typhoon Wutip is currently gathering strength just south of Guam, making it the first typhoon of 2019 and just the second one on record to spin up in this part of the Pacific in February, according to data kept by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The freak typhoon is just south of the island, but is
making a sharp turn northward and could clip Guam this weekend. As of late Friday night local time, Wutip was packing sustained winds of 120 mph, making it the equivalent of a Category 3 hurricane pushing wave heights up to 41 feet according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. Gusts are cranking up to 150 mph, and the storm is projected to maintain this level of intensity into Saturday before weakening a little as it continues to wend its way toward the northwest. READ MORE
