PACIFIC OCEAN - Billed as the largest storm yet in 2015, Typhoon Soudelor has been rapidly strengthening since Monday, officially reaching category 5 super typhoon status. Weather experts expect the typhoon to threaten China, Taiwan, and surrounding areas by the end of the week.

Soudelor became the fifth super typhoon this year Monday after undergoing a replacement of its eyewall, a process that occurs in intense tropical cyclones. According to the Weather Channel, a super typhoon is defined by sustained one-minute wind speeds of at least 150 mph.

AccuWeather has reported that Soudelor reached peak intensity late Monday with winds near 180 mph, making it the strongest tropical cyclone anywhere on the planet this year. Winds near 105 mph were reported as the typhoon passed over the island of Saipan, while Guam to the South was spared from most damaging winds, as gusts remained at 30-40 mph. 

Conditions will worsen across northern and eastern Taiwan Friday afternoon with the worst of the weather expected Friday night and Saturday as the powerful typhoon makes landfall along the east coast of Taiwan. 

As Soudelor takes its path across Taiwan, the typhoon is expected to weaken significantly before it makes landfall in China this weekend, but flooding, rainfall, and strong winds will still be a concern.

China is currently one of the largest producers of apples in the world, and as one apple producer here in the U.S. tells me, the crop is so large that there is significant production in all of the provinces within China.  They are northern hemisphere, so their production season is essentially the same as the United States, give or take varying timelines.

Flooding could be a concern for growers in Fujian, Jiangxi, Anhui, and Jiangsu provinces this weekend into early next week. According to AccuWeather, rainfall will average 4-8 inches, with it reaching 12 inches in parts of the coastal plain.