Sunday, October 22, 2017

"Category 3 Typhoon Lan Batters Japan"

From Wunderground's Category 6:
Typhoon Lan was drenching Japan’s main island of Honshu with dangerous torrential rains on Sunday as the Category 3 typhoon, with sustained winds of 120 mph at 8 am EDT Sunday, sped northeast at 29 mph towards Tokyo. Lan is interacting with a frontal system that has brought high wind shear and dry air into the typhoon, resulting in the collapse of its inner core. Passage over cool waters of 25°C (77°F) as Lan approaches the coast will cause further weakening, and Lan is likely to be a Category 1 typhoon when it makes landfall Monday morning (Sunday afternoon U.S. EDT), about 100 miles southwest of Tokyo....

...Torrential rains and high landslide risk
While high winds will cause considerable damage and loss of power across much of Honshu, Lan’s primary threat is heavy rain. A moist flow of tropical air interacting with a stalled front had already begun to trigger heavy rains over Japan on Friday, and now that Lan’s rains have reached the nation (see latest Japanese radar images), record 48-hour rainfall amounts have been observed in some locations. As of 21:20 JST Sunday, Lan brought a record 48-hour rainfall amount for October of 700 mm (27.56”) to Shingu, located about 300 miles southwest of Tokyo. In records going back to 1976, the highest 48-hour rainfall there for any month was 782 mm (30.79”). Kamoda, in the Shikoku region, also set an October 48-hour rainfall record today, with 299.5 mm (11.79”.) Additional heavy rains of over 10” are expected over some areas of Japan....MORE
The storm made landfall a couple hours ago.

Saturday:
Super-Typhoon Lan Aiming Directly At Tokyo