Published: August 24,2015
Goni has maintained a strong core as it tracks into southern mainland Japan, where strong, damaging winds are likely on Kyushu Island. A wind gust to 102 mph was reported at Makurazaki early Tuesday morning and Mount Unzen in Nagasaki prefecture broke its all-time one-hour rainfall record when 134.0 mm, 5.28 inches, of rain was measured in one hour on Tuesday morning.
(MORE: Timeline: Typhoon Goni Strikes Mainland Japan)
Peak Wind Gust Reports
Goni pounded Japan's Ryukyu Islands Sunday night into Monday Japanese time (Sunday U.S. time).
Goni rapidly intensified while moving over the southernmost Ryukyu Islands on Sunday. As a result, 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.
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: Millions in Japan Advised to Prepare for Evacuation; More Than a Dozen Dead in the Philippines)
According to the U.S. military's Joint Typhoon Warning Center, Typhoon Goni was located about 82 miles west-southwest of Iwakuni, Japan, and had maximum estimated sustained winds of 90 mph as of Monday night, U.S. time. That makes it the equivalent of a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. The weakening trend will continue as it tracks into the Sea of Japan due to land interaction and increasing wind shear.
Infrared Satellite: Goni
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 began moving northeast late in the weekend. This took Goni on a path through the populated islands of Ishigakijima and Miyakojima where the extreme winds mentioned above occurred.
(FORECASTS: Taipei)
The center of Goni then passed west of the main island of Okinawa, including Kadena Air Base, on Monday, local time. Winds gusted to 76 mph at Kadena Air Base.
In response to a southward dip in the jet stream arriving over eastern China, Goni is now accelerating and tracking toward southwest Japan -- Kyushu, western Honshu, Shikoku -- as a strong typhoon. Damaging typhoon-force winds (74 mph or greater) are expected in Nagasaki, Sasebo, Fukuoka and Kumamoto. Some rain and wind impacts are also likely in eastern South Korea, though the circulation center should track to the east.
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: Philippines and Taiwan Impacts
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.
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.
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