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Typhoon Hinnamnor as seen from the International Space Station on the morning of Aug. 31. (from NASA Earth Observatory site)

On Sunday, NASA Earth Observatory released two photographs of Typhoon Hinnamnor taken from space. One of the photos was shot by an astronaut on the International Space Station on the morning of Aug. 31, and the other by the Aqua satellite on Sept. 1.

NASA noted that Hinnamnor is Earth’s first Category 5 storm this year.

“It was pretty late in the year for the first storm of such intensity,” NASA said, adding that an average of 5.3 Category 5 storms form each year globally.

Typhoon Hinnamnor as seen from NASA’s Aqua satellite on Sept. 1. (from NASA Earth Observatory site)

The storm category is determined by the amount of damage expected when a hurricane or typhoon makes landfall.

The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) reported on Sunday that Hinnamnor, the 11th typhoon of the season, had developed into a “very strong” typhoon, with an atmospheric pressure of 935 hectopascals and a maximum wind speed of 49 meters per second (109 mph) at the center and a maximum wind radius of 430 kilometers. As of 3 pm on Sunday, the KMA said, the typhoon was rapidly moving north-northeast from a position about 390 kilometers northeast of Taipei.

Typhoon Hinnamnor as seen from Korea’s G Cheollian-2A satellite at around 9 pm on Sept. 4. (from KMA site)

Within 24 hours of that point, Hinnamnor was expected to reach the waters 340 kilometers south-southwest of Seogwipo, a southern city on Jeju Island. After moving to a point about 50 kilometers east-northeast of Seogwipo around 3 am on Tuesday, it will then move in a northeastern direction.

The typhoon’s force is likely to remain “very strong,” representing a wind speed of more than 44 meters per second at the center of the storm, until that point.

By Lee Jong-keun, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]