27 October 2013
Typhoon Fitow Video: PREMIERE!

I've been hard at work editing the mountain of video footage I brought home from my three typhoon chases earlier this month—and I'm happy to report that the first video, for Typhoon FITOW, is complete and live for viewing!

Although it's just a teaser for the full-length documentary, this video stands on its own as an up-close account of FITOW's heavy assault on the tiny Japanese island of Miyako-jima.

FITOW was a large, slow-moving cyclone, so I shot a lot of footage—and this made the editing process slow-going. But I'm happy with the result; I feel I was able to lift out the best pieces and combine them into a compact presentation that conveys the storm's angry energy.

As you'll notice in the video, winds increased gradually as the typhoon approached, becoming dangerous by late afternoon. The storm's inner core was raking the island by about 5:30 pm JST, and the wind rose to a full-on scream by the time darkness fell—a strange, frightening, yet beautiful sound that you can hear in the video (starting about 3:14).

I want to thank James Reynolds and Mark Thomas for being such great chase partners on this conquest. I also want to thank James (and Earth Uncut TV) for lending me the clip at 2:40—a quick, 5-second shot of me taking wind measurements in the storm.

I'll post a complete chase account in the near future. In the meantime, enjoy the video!

—Josh Morgerman