WeatherFanatics: Tropical Storm Vongfong Slams Okinawa, Mainland Japan Next

Saturday, October 11, 2014

Tropical Storm Vongfong Slams Okinawa, Mainland Japan Next

By Eric Leister, Meteorologist

October 11,2014; 9:34PM,EDT

While Japan is recovering from former Typhoon Phanfone, another storm is approaching the country.
Vongfong, meaning "the wasp" in Cantonese, is currently crossing the Ryukyu Islands, located to the south of Japan. The center of the storm, once classified as a super typhoon, passed across the island of Okinawa very late Saturday night into early Sunday morning, local time.
This dangerous storm has already recorded a brutal history. Vongfong, as a typhoon, brought flooding rainfall and damaging wind to the northern Mariana Islands on last Sunday, local time. Wind gusts over 89 kph (55 mph) and rainfall over 75 millimeters (3 inches) were common.

Vongfong, as a super typhoon on Thursday, Oct. 9, viewed from the International Space Station (Photo/International Space Station).
Vongfong was classified as a super typhoon during the middle of the week as it moved through an area of low wind shear and very warm ocean temperatures but has since lost that title. The tropical system had reached the equivalent strength of a Category 5 hurricane, featuring wind speeds greater than 257 kph (160 mph).
"Vongfong became the strongest tropical cyclone we've had all year anywhere on Earth," AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Jim Andrews said.
The strength of Vongfong earlier surpassed that of Super Typhoon Genevieve which, at its most powerful, had sustained winds of 257 kph (160 mph) in the West Pacific.
Some weakening has brought the strength of Vongfong down to the equivalent of a tropical storm. However, Vongfong still threatens dangerous and life-threatening conditions.
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The potent storm will bring life-threatening conditions to many over the course of the next few days.
"Destructive winds and flooding rain will be the top threats," Andrews said.
The first target is the Ryukyu Islands of southern Japan which are currently feeling the full wrath of the typhoon. So far, wind has peaked at 143 kph (89 mph) at the Kadena Air Base in Okinawa. Nearby, about 500 mm (20 inches) of rain has fallen at Kunigami as of midnight Saturday night.
Power outages have already occurred while flash flooding is also a major concern. Conditions will gradually improve across the Ryukyu Islands Sunday into Sunday night as Vongfong pulls away to the north.
The Japanese media outlet NHK reports that strong winds cause injuries to more than 30 residents in Okinawa with some suffering serious injuries. As of 11 a.m. JST Sunday, more than 110,000 combined blackouts were reported in the Okinawa and Kagoshima prefectures.

After battering the Ryukyu Islands, the focus will then shift to mainland Japan. The worst impacts across mainland Japan are expected from late Sunday through early Tuesday as typhoon-force winds and inundating rainfall spread from southwest to northeast across the nation.
A landfall on the island of Kyushu near Kagoshima is expected to occur Sunday night and into early Monday as Vongfong begins to accelerate northeastward.
Weakening of Vongfong is expected as the tropical storm approaches and moves across mainland Japan; however, the storm will still bring life-threatening conditions to most of Japan with the greatest impacts expected in Kyushu, Shikoku and southern Honshu. there flooding rainfall will combine with damaging wind gusts.
Rainfall in much of Japan will surpass 125 mm (5 inches) from Sunday to Tuesday with much of Kyushu, Shikoku and southern Honshu seeing in excess of 250 mm (10 inches). AccuWeather.com meteorologists warn that over 500 mm (20 inches) could fall in some of the mountainous terrain which will not only lead to flooding, but the risk for mudslides as well.

This animated GIF shows Vongfong tracking across the western Pacific Ocean. (NOAA/Satellite)
Many areas at risk from Vongfong are still recovering from more than 150 millimeters (6 inches) of rain and strong winds that hammered eastern Japan barely a week ago as Typhoon Phanfone moved through the region.
Tokyo was deluged by 272 millimeters (10.71 inches) of rain ahead of and during the height of Phanfone.
"Phanfone was a huge rainstorm for Tokyo, one of the biggest I can remember," Andrews added, noting moisture from the storm interacted with a stalled front, prolonging the duration of rain.
There could be another round of flooding rainfall in Tokyo Monday and Monday night with up to 150 (6 inches) of rain expected in some places.
"The threats are the same as they were with Phanfone," Andrews said. "There are some likenesses but also some differences in Phanfone's track. The results can vary markedly with small differences in track and storm speed."
AccuWeather.com Meteorologists Meghan Mussoline, Courtney Spamer and Jordan Root contributed content to this story.

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