Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Typhoon Neoguri Strikes Okinawa, Japan: 118-mph Gust Reported, Mainland Prepares for Impacts (LIVE UPDATES)

July 8,2014


 
Typhoon Neoguri, the strongest typhoon so far in the 2014 Western Pacific season, is an extremely dangerous tropical cyclone now churning through the Ryukyu Island chain of far southern Japan, including Okinawa. Parts of the Japanese mainland will feel Neoguri's effects over the next 48 hours.
Some 480,000 people have been advised to evacuate to safer shelter in Okinawa Prefecture, according to public broadcaster NHK. That's about one-third of the prefecture's 1.4 million people scattered across a chain of islands.
About 22,100 households were without power as of 11:30 a.m. Japanese time (10:30 p.m. Monday U.S. time), NHK said.
(MORE: Typhoon Neoguri News and Photos)
For the latest breaking updates on this dangerous storm, including storm reports, photos, video and analysis, scroll down or click here to jump to our live updates ticker.
All outdoor activity has been banned at Kadena Air Base, the U.S. Air Force installation on the island of Okinawa, due to sustained winds as high as 66 mph. Gusts have reached 90 mph, according to official weather observations at the base. The base declared its highest level of alert, Tropical Cyclone Condition of Readiness (TCCOR) 1-Emergency on Tuesday morning Japanese time (Monday evening U.S. time).
A sustained wind of 79 mph and a peak gust of 118 mph was recorded late Tuesday morning by the Japan Meteorological Agency's AMEDAS observation network on Tokashiki Island, part of Okinawa Prefecture, about 20 miles west of Naha, the prefectural capital. Those are the strongest winds reported on land as of this update. Those winds were continuing to increase as of late Tuesday morning local time.
The system became a typhoon – the Western Pacific equivalent of a hurricane – on Friday. Neoguri was moving northward about 150 miles southwest of Kadena Air Base as of Monday evening U.S. time.
(PHOTOS: Hurricane Arthur Slams the U.S. East Coast)
The U.S. Joint Typhoon Warning Center estimated Neoguri's sustained winds to be as high as 125 miles per hour as of 2 p.m. Monday U.S. time (3 a.m. Tuesday Japanese time), with higher gusts. This makes Neoguri the equivalent of a  Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
When Neoguri's winds reached an estimated 150 mph earlier Sunday, it earned the "super typhoon" designation from JTWC. That status lasted through late Monday morning U.S. time before dry air began to be pulled into the core of the system, causing it to weaken somewhat.
Background

Western Pacific Satellite

Western Pacific Satellite
However, Neoguri will continue to spin over very warm waters in a favorable atmospheric environment, which may limit any additional weakening in the short term.
(INFOGRAPHIC: Category 5 Atlantic Hurricane Facts)
Neoguri had been forecast to pass dangerously close to Okinawa on Tuesday local time (late Monday night/early Tuesday morning U.S. time). The most recent forecasts have the center passing about 100 miles to the west of Okinawa while moving north. Still, that puts the island on the stronger right-hand side of the storm, and there have already been powerful rain bands with gusts well above typhoon force (74 mph) across the island.
The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) issued a rare emergency warning, its highest level of warning, Monday evening to the island of Miyakojima, warning of a storm surge up to about 7 feet (2 meters) and offshore waves up to 46 feet (14 meters), and asking residents to prepare for the worst.
The agency later expanded the emergency warning to the main island of Okinawa and other nearby areas and added high winds to the emergency warning, forecasting maximum winds of 100 mph in the city of Naha.

Americans Prepared for Storm

Americans stationed at Kadena Air Base have finished preparations for the potential of a destructive storm.
(MORE: Tropical Terms You Need to Know)
The base began evacuating aircraft to other bases in the Pacific Sunday in anticipation of the typhoon. Brig. Gen. James Hecker, 18th Wing commander, said in a statement on the base's website over the weekend: "I can't stress enough how dangerous this typhoon may be when it hits Okinawa. This is the most powerful typhoon forecast to hit the island in 15 years; we expect damaging winds to arrive by early Tuesday morning."
The Kadena Air Base Facebook site showed residents filling sandbags in preparation for the storm.
Air Force meteorologists with the 18th Wing Support Squadron have laid out the following timeline of impacts on Okinawa (all local time, 13 hours ahead of the U.S. East Coast):
  • Strongest winds (sustained 75 mph; gusts to 115 mph): around 3 p.m. Tuesday
  • Winds fall below 50 mph sustained: 8 p.m. Tuesday
Typhoon Neoguri

Neoguri Forecast Track from Weather Underground

Mainland Japan Braces for Heavy Rain, Strong Winds

After passing Okinawa, Neoguri is then expected go on to affect parts of the Japanese mainland by Wednesday night. It is expected to weaken to a minimal typhoon or a tropical storm by the time it reaches the main islands of Kyushu, Shikoku and western portions of Honshu, home to tens of millions of people.
However, very heavy rain is anticipated on those mountainous islands as Neoguri moves through.
Heavy rains from an unrelated system have been drenching Kyushu, the southwesternmost of Japan's four main islands, in recent days. According to the Japan Times, parts of Nagasaki recorded the heaviest rainfall in 50 years Thursday, with over six inches of rain falling in three hours. Flash flooding inundated houses in the city and landslides were reported.
(MORE: Get the Latest on Hurricane Season Here)
Extremely heavy rainfall continued on the island Sunday, with nearly 10 inches of rain reported at Mount Shibi, Kagoshima Prefecture in 24 hours, according to public broadcaster NHK.
Neoguri is the strongest tropical cyclone of the year in the Western Pacific basin. The season's first typhoon, Faxai, reached minimal typhoon status with 75-mph winds in early March. It did not affect land.
An April storm named Tapah was declared a typhoon by JTWC. However, the JMA said Tapah peaked as a "severe tropical storm" with winds slightly below the 74-mph threshold.
For official purposes, the World Meteorological Organization recognizes JMA as the principal agency charged with analyzing and forecasting tropical cyclones in the Western Pacific. In the Eastern Pacific and Atlantic basins, that designation is held by NOAA's National Hurricane Center in Miami, Florida.
Neoguri means "raccoon" in Korean, according to a Sydney Morning Herald report.

Typhoon Neoguri Live, Breaking Updates

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A Filipino man walks in a puddle of water at a neighborhood ravaged by Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban, Philippines, Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2013. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)

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