A typhoon reportedly as strong as Superstorm Sandy is heading away from the mainland of Japan on a trajectory toward the Aleutian Islands.

Although its power as a typhoon is decreasing, the system's remnant low brings the threat of a major storm in the Bering Sea toward the week's end.

According to a special weather statement issued by the National Weather Service (NWS) in Anchorage, Alaska, the storm is likely to intensify rapidly on Friday and create dangerously high seas and hurricane-force winds across the Western Aleutians into Saturday.

This storm is expected to impact a number of places in the affected area and the NWS statement has highlighted the following cities to be warned of the upcoming inclement: Bethel, Hooper Bay, Nunivak Island, King Salmon, Dillingham, Naknek, Pilot Point, Cold Bay, Sand Point, Unalaska, Nikolski, Atka and Adak, Shemya and Amchitka.

The cyclone that is the remnant of Typhoon Nuri is expected to move quickly into the North Pacific late on Thursday on its way toward the western Bering Sea. It is during this time that the storm will intensify most rapidly.

According to the current forecast model, central pressure with this system will drop from near 970 MB late Thursday night to between 918 and 922 MB late Friday night. This may prove to be a rather significant event, as the lowest pressure on record ever measured in the Bering Sea is 925 MB, observed at Dutch Harbor on Oct. 25, 1977.

In the Western and Central Aleutians, a sizeable band of hurricane-force winds will be possible from Shemya eastward to Adak late Friday and into Saturday. Waves of up to 50 feet or higher are expected in this area and the NWS warns that hazardous conditions should be expected for all unsheltered marine vessels.

In the area around the Pribilof Islands, strong southwest winds are expected to create an impact through the weekend. High seas of 22 to 32 feet on a persistent southwesterly fetch can be expected.

For affected areas in southwestern Alaska, coastal flooding and erosion may develop on Sunday and possibly into Monday, when high seas in the southern Bering reach land. Those on the southwest coast are urged to continue monitoring for updates on this storm as it progresses and its impacts become more certain.

Meteorologists with the NWS emphasize that they have high confidence in the intensity of this low pressure system. They are unsure, however, about the precise placement and track of the system as it moves through the Bering Sea. The exact track will reportedly be critical in terms of finding out how far east the hurricane-force winds will go and how much water will be pushed toward Alaska's west coast.

According to a report from the Alaska Dispatch News, fishing boats are now making their way into Dutch Harbor and cargo ships are making their way further out into the ocean to avoid the storm as it travels through the Bering Sea.

Marine Exchange of Alaska is a Juneau-based organization that monitors ships and other marine vessels through a tracking system similar to how air traffic controllers track airplanes.

According to the director of the organization, Ed Page, hundreds of vessels have already begun reacting to the storm as it makes its way ever closer.

"A fair amount of them are running for cover, are heading toward ports to seek cover," Page said. "A lot of ships actually are just changing their normal routes and staying way offshore to avoid the storm."

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