(CNN)Pope Francis cut his trip to Tacloban short Saturday as an approaching typhoon with blistering winds threatened the city in the Philippines. The Pope donned a slicker to conduct an outdoor Mass for hundreds of thousands who gathered despite stormy weather. The Mass in Tacloban was shortened after sustained winds of 80 mph and higher gusts howled toward the city. Tacloban is still recovering from the 2013 disaster of Super Typhoon Haiyan, described as one of the strongest storms ever recorded with 195 mph sustained winds. It killed 6,300 people nationwide. Typhoon Mekkhala was upgraded from a tropical storm and made landfall in the Philippines in the afternoon just northeast of Tacloban.
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Pope Francis celebrates outdoor Mass in stormy weather
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Typhoon Mekkhala could also make another Mass, on Sunday, a wet, windy service in Manila
During the Pope's visit to Tacloban, he will have lunch with survivors of the 2013 Typhoon Haiyan, renamed @placeholder in that country.