Windspeed

Yeah, looks like model consensus has shifted south as has JTWC's official forecast. Looks like the core will miss Taiwan and China's mainland will be dealing with a stronger intensity at landfall than previously forecast. This could end up the worst direct wind impacts at landfall for China for many years. The core will likely weaken and drop down to upper Category Three status due to internal reorganization and an expansion of pressure gradient /wind field, but Meranti may have a much larger core by then, affecting a larger area of shoreline with typhoon force winds.

Haiyan was at a much lower latitude and had better upper tropospheric forcing. Probably the most incredible structure and symmetry we've ever seen in a tropical cyclone. I don't think Meranti can eclipse that. Inevitably, it is going to go through an internal structural change. It may have even peaked. As has been repeated, I wish they had recon over there.

Wow, this may reign supreme for 2016. Absolute monster...

A .75-1 mile wide wedge tornado with roughly 40mph forward motion combined with EF5 intensity; the circulation had to have some pretty intense inflow. I would consider that the reason it lasted so long wasn't necessarily because folks were inside the condensation of the wedge for 2-3 minutes, but were getting hammered with 60-100mph wind gusts 30-40 seconds before and after it plowed through them. I can't imagine the terror of experiencing such intensity for so long when everything around you is obliterated and the shrapnel-laden wind is basically the equivalent of a shotgun blast.

This may be the most real and disturbing literature I have read with regards to the events that unfolded that day. For all the fascinating aspects of severe weather, the human aspect of loss and death is something that gets separated from science, statistics and the curiosity we all share. We all pour over "the incident" as this thing of wonder and amazement. We all live vicariously through those that experience natural disasters first hand. But in the telling of a personal experience, such as this one, you feel the pull on that place in your guts that makes you a human being. Thanks for posting this, Jomo. Glad you and yours survived unscathed, physically, at least.

A speed of 10mph is quite puzzling and this must be an error. If you match NEXRAD scans with the 22 mi damage path, it looks like the center of couplet was over Newton RD just SW Joplin around 22:33:52 GMT. At 22:42:47 GMT, the circulation is distinguishable by an enormous debris ball. The couplet weakens and dissipates around 23:05:02 GMT roughly 10-12 mi ESE of Joplin. If we loosely estimate a touch down around 22:30 and dissipation at 23:00, that would gives us 22 mi traveled in 30 minutes, which is 44mph. Granted, this is a loose estimate. A more exact approximation with the NEXRAD scans and spotter reports might give us something at or just shy of 40mph, which I believe is the official speed documented by the NWS.