Next time you're sitting in an airport waiting out a weather delay caused by a light sprinkle, just sit down and watch this video of Naha Airport in Okinawa, Japan, as they fly jets in and out as a typhoon rages behind them.
This video was captured last night from the Naha Airport Webcam as Typhoon Muifa, currently with winds gusting to 125 mph, aimed for the island en route to an expected landfall near Shanghai, China, early Sunday morning.
Though the storm was still a good ways out, there's massive surf, heavy rain, and gusty winds all evident even in the low-quality web video as crews quickly load and unload planes, including an All Nippon Airways 747-400.
"In Asia, they are much more prepared for typhoons than the US," said extreme storm photographer Jim Edds, who has experience chasing typhoons in Asia and found the webcam. "The whole infrastructure is built solid — some folks will go to work today."
The worst of the storm is about to hit Okinawa and the planes have stopped, for now, although another large jet did a quick turnaround last night according to photographer James Reynolds who is stuck on the island.
Keep an eye on the camera as the sun comes up and surge from Muifa watches over the airport.
Photo Credit: Double-H, Japanese Meteorological Agency; Music Credit: Andrew Shoemaker