Praying that the storm either loses considerable strength before landfall, or better yet that it changes course and heads out to open seas.
Posted on 07/08/2014 9:12:39 AM PDT by PoloSec
All eyes in Japan are on Super Typhoon Neoguri, a tremendous storm set to create 40-foot-tall waves.
Airports have shut down and at least 500,000 people have received evacuation advisories in southern Japan due to this: a monster storm throwing 40-foot-waves in the Pacific called Super Typhoon Neoguri.
A "super typhoon" is a typhoon so powerful its maximum sustained winds hit 150 mph or higher, equivalent to the fury of a Category 4 or 5 hurricane in the Atlantic. Neoguri had supersized itself with 150-mph winds when the Suomi NPP satellite snapped the above image of the tempest approaching Okinawa on Tuesday afternoon, Japanese time. From there, it's expected to make a beeline for Kyushu, perhaps growing even more ferocious for a quick spell thanks to supportive winds and warm ocean waters.
Neoguri is tremendous enough that its clearly defined eye is visible from space, as seen in this shot from astronaut Reid Wiseman:
Forecasters predict that the super typhoon will lose some of its punch by the time it reaches mainland Japan, but that it still could hit the coast with substantial and dangerous strength. That's a problem for cities that've recently been drenched with seasonal storms, as the sodden ground is primed for flooding and mudslides. Jeff Masters at the Weather Underground has given a dire scenario for how that might effect what happens in the days ahead:
Neoguri has been caught by a trough of low pressure and is headed for the Japanese island of Kyushu, where the city of Nagasaki lies. Nagasaki had upwards of 8 inches of rain on Thursday, and parts of Kyushu saw 10 inches of rain on Friday, thanks to a stalled stationary front over the island. With the soils already saturated from these heavy rains, the torrential rains from Neoguri are sure to cause major flooding on Wednesday and Thursday. ... Although ocean temperatures will cool and wind shear will rise as Neoguri approaches Japan, weakening the storm, the typhoon is so large and powerful that it will likely make landfall with at least Category 2 strength, causing major damage in Japan.
Neoguri, whose name means "raccoon dog" in Korean, is primed to be "one of the strongest [storms] to hit Japan in decades, generating waves up to 14 meters (46 feet) high," according to ABC News. But if there's one thing the perennially sea-battered country is good at doing, it's using strong social and infrastructural measures to protect against typhoons. So here's hoping the superbeast limps off into the Pacific without any major damage done.
These are a couple more satellite images of the storm from Monday night, U.S. time: (@Site)
I wish these storms could be parceled out and sent to Texas.
Joe Bastardi is predicting considerable weakening before making landfall at Japan.
Praying that the storm either loses considerable strength before landfall, or better yet that it changes course and heads out to open seas.
i have a friend in Iwakuni... which seems far from Okinawa... but i am not sure how typhoons work...
Why is this particular storm being labeled “super” and monster?
There have been at least 20 storms of this size or greater since 2000.
It’s big... will probably “Ike” out and lose much of it’s strength before landfall.
But it’s no Katrina or Andrew.
Pacific hurricanes have a a lot more ocean to work with.
What is the difference between... a Typhoon, a Hurricane and a Cyclone?
Or are they simply different names used by people in different places for the same thing?
——Why is this particular storm being labeled “super” and monster?——
It always bugs me they call sandy ...”super storm sandy” it wasn’t a super storm at all...coastal areas were flooded bady, but that’s about it...
Having lived though Hurricane Andrew....sandy was a walk in the park unless you lived right on the coast...
Typhoon and Cyclone are used in the Pacific. Typhoons more in the north (Asia) and Cyclone in the south (Australia). Hurricane is used in the Atlantic. They are all the same storm type.
About the only thing super about it was its diameter when it was a Cat 5. The wind speeds just got it there, and the barometric pressure was low, but not unusually so.
Predictions of its strength at landfall in Kyushu have dropped from 4 to 3 and now down to Cat 1.
This is still a dangerous storm that will cover the entire group of main islands, and there was substantial rainfall just a few days ago, so major mudslides are predicted, but all this “super-typhoon” ranting is just hype for ratings and AGW lemmings.
More Info @
http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-the-difference-between-a-hurricane-cyclone-and-typhoon.htm
The map put out from the Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center
http://www.usno.navy.mil/NOOC/nmfc-ph/RSS/jtwc/warnings/wp0814.gif
has the eye of the storm well south of Iwakuni before it swings back up and hits Tokyo. They have it hitting Kyushu as a Cat 1 typhoon, but soon turning into a tropical storm.
A typhoon is a hurricane
a typhoon is a backwards hurricane turns clockwise.
check picture in post #4
You'd love Panama during the rainy season. Virtually every day you could set your watch on when the rain would begin, usually just after 1:00 p.m. if I remember correctly.
It wouldn't just rain, it would be a torrential downpour lasting about 20 minutes then it would stop and the sky would clear up.
With the high temps, the humidity was incredible. If you lived in an open barracks as I did, you HAD to change and polish your boots every day because if you didn't and left them on the floor, they would start to get covered with mildew within 3 days......
I absolutely loved it there......
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