Typhoon Goni Hammering Japan's Ryukyu Islands; 159 MPH Wind Gust Reported; Deadly Impacts in the Philippines

Jon Erdman
Published: August 23,2015

Typhoon Goni continues to pound Japan's Ryukyu Islands on Monday Japanese time (Sunday night U.S. time).

Peak Wind Gust Reports

Winds gusted up to 158.8 mph (71 m/s) at one location on the island of Ishigakijima on Sunday night Japanese time, according to data from the Japanese Meteorological Agency. This breaks the site's all-time record wind gust of 157 mph (70.2 m/s) set July 31, 1977. Wind gust records go back to 1941. Sustained winds at that same site have peaked at 107.1 mph (47.9 m/s) which breaks their all-time August record, but is still short of the 118.6 mph (53.0 m/s ) in the July 31, 1977 typhoon. Sustained wind records there go all the way back to 1897. The airport on Ishigakijima Island clocked a gust of 150.7 mph (67.4 m/s) at 10:18 p.m. JST (9:18 a.m. EDT).
Earlier this month, the Ryukyu Islands were hit hard with strong winds from Typhoon Soudelor. Ishigakijima saw a wind gust of 123 mph during Soudelor.
(SOUDELOR RECAPS: Impacts | Reports | Images | Rain Visualization)
Prior to impacting southern Japan, Goni brought deadly impacts to the northern Philippines as it moved very slowly just north of Luzon Island. This resulted in a prolonged period of heavy rain and strong winds.
(MORE: More Than a Dozen Dead in the Philippines)

Infrared Satellite: Goni

According to the U.S. military's Joint Typhoon Warning Center, Typhoon Goni was located about 125 miles west-southwest of Kadena Air Base, Japan, and had maximum estimated sustained winds of 130 mph as of Sunday evening, U.S. time. That makes it the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. While some modest strengthening is forecast over the next 12 hours, a weakening trend is likely early in the week as it tracks toward southwest Japan and South Korea.

Forecast Path: Goni

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Goni Forecast: Japan Impacts Continue

Typhoon Goni Wind Probabilities

Forecast Rainfall Through Tuesday

After stalling for a time, steered by high pressure aloft to the southeast, Goni is now moving northeast. This is taking Goni through Japan's southern Ryukyu Islands.
(FORECASTS: Taipei)
Goni's path will take it through the populated islands of Ishigakijima and Miyakojima through Monday morning.
The center of Goni will pass near the main island of Okinawa, including Kadena Air Base, with a closest approach of the center sometime Monday, local time. At this time, it appears the center of circulation will past west of the island, though strong winds and torrential rainfall are still likely.
Kadena Air Base elevated their tropical cyclone condition of readiness to TCCOR 1, meaning destructive winds are anticipated within 12 hours.
In response to a southward dip in the jet stream arriving over eastern China, it's possible Goni may regain a little strength temporarily through Monday, as upper-level winds may provide a boost to upward motion and thunderstorms within Goni's circulation.
Goni is then expected to accelerate and track toward the southwest Japan -- Kyushu, western Honshu, Shikoku -- or perhaps eastern South Korea Tuesday, perhaps as a low-end typhoon or tropical storm.
Heading into the Sea of Japan, Goni should then make a final landfall as a tropical storm, depression, or remnant low somewhere near the Russia/northeast China/northeast North Korea triple point by mid-week.

Typhoon Goni: Storm History So Far

As Goni made its closest pass to the Philippine island of Luzon, the forward speed of the system came to nearly a complete stop.
This proved problematic as a steady stream of heavy rain and gusty winds lashed the Batanes and Babuyan Islands of the northern Philippines and Taiwan.
The impacts from Goni have killed more than a dozen people in the Philippines, where the tropical cyclone is known as Ineng.
Sustained tropical storm-force winds of 45 mph (72 kph) were reported on the island of Calayan as well as at the Basco Radar Site on Batan Island. Gusts to 51 mph were recorded at Aparri on the island of Luzon.
(MORE: Typhoon Goni: Several Dead in Philippines)
Parts of northern Luzon picked up torrential rainfall at the end of last week. Baguio City has picked up over 28 inches of rain thanks to the relentless tropical fetch south of Goni's center. Laoag City has also picked up over 22 inches of rain.

Rainfall Amounts So Far

The Taiwanese island of Lanyu, southeast of the main island of Taiwan, has reported wind gusts up to 72 mph (32 meters per second).
Lanyu also picked up 9.94 inches (252.5 millimeters) of rain Friday through Sunday morning, including 6.59 inches of rain Saturday alone.
Goni began a period of rapid intensification Monday morning (Sunday evening mainland U.S. time) while moving west away from Guam and Saipan. Winds increased 60 mph in the 24 hours from 5 a.m. EDT Sunday to 5 a.m. EDT Monday, according to the U.S. military's Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC). This includes an increase of 40 mph in just six hours late Sunday from 5 p.m. EDT to 11 p.m. EDT. This is the equivalent of jumping from Category 1 to Category 4, with winds peaking at 130 mph.

Typhoon Atsani: Recurve Out to Sea

Meanwhile, Typhoon Atsani is churning hundreds of miles to the northeast.
Atsani, instead of following in the wake of Goni, is instead much farther east over open waters of the western Pacific Ocean.
This is occurring thanks to an upper-atmospheric high pressure zone to its east.
Once Atsani moves far enough north this weekend, the jet stream should turn Atsani well east of mainland Japan.
(FORECAST: Tokyo | Osaka)
Japan's easternmost possession, the tiny atoll of Minamitorishima, recorded a sustained east-southeasterly wind of 36 mph early Thursday (Japan time) well to the north of Atsani's center, according to data from the Japan Meteorological Agency. A wind gust to 56 mph was measured on Iwo Jima Saturday morning.
(MORE: Expert Analysis | Hurricane Central)

Saipan and Guam Impacted By Heavy Rain, Strong Winds

Over the past weekend, Goni affected Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands as a tropical storm.
Tropical storm-force winds (39 mph or greater) occurred as the center passed through the islands. Off Saipan, a sustained tropical storm-force wind of 43 mph was reported just before 11 p.m. local time (7 a.m. EDT) Saturday. A peak gust of 61 mph was recorded there at 10:23 p.m.
On Guam, Andersen Air Force Base clocked a 49-mph sustained wind at just before 5 a.m. local time Sunday (3 p.m. EDT Saturday), with gusts to 58 mph, as a heavy rain band lashed the northern end of Guam. Guam International Airport near Hagatna, Guam's capital, gusted as high as 46 mph at 5:28 a.m. local time Sunday.
Heavy rain arrived Saturday and continued Sunday, prompting flash flood warnings for Guam and Rota. Guam International Airport reported 13.86 inches of rain Friday through 4 p.m. local time Sunday. (Guam is 14 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Daylight Time.)
This is the second tropical cyclone to affect Saipan in the last two weeks. The island is still struggling to recover from Typhoon Soudelor.
The Pacific News Center reported about 4,000 households in Saipan, or over 25 percent, have requested assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Power outages and a lack of running water and food have plagued the 44-square-mile island about 135 miles northeast of Guam since an intensifying Soudelor hit the island square on Aug. 2.
(WATCH: Saipan Struggles After Soudelor)
Guam's main newspaper, the Pacific Daily News, says some families on Guam are also recovering from typhoon damage – in their case, damage from Typhoon Dolphin back in May. Dolphin's eyewall passed over Guam, delivering gusts as high as 106 mph to the northern end of the island.
Meteorologist Chris Dolce contributed to this report.

MORE: Typhoon Soudelor Photos