Sasebo braces for arrival of Typhoon Nabi

[preciousdove]

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=31410

Storm expected to hit Japan’s coast on Tuesday afternoon

By Greg Tyler and David Allen, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Wednesday, September 7, 2005

SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan — Base personnel “battened down the hatches” in preparation for Super Typhoon Nabi, on course to wallop Sasebo late Tuesday, and Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni shortly thereafter...

The typhoon was approximately 150 miles southeast of Sasebo and about 197 miles south of Iwakuni on Monday afternoon tracking northeastward at 8 mph, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Hawaii.

By Tuesday morning, the typhoon’s sustained winds are forecast to be 109 mph with gusts to 132 mph

...Sasebo is nestled among a mountainous barrier protecting the base from west-tracking typhoons; however, Nabi should move over from the east, making the base vulnerable to a greater impact from the typhoon’s west quadrant

[Longhorn]

1. My son is stationed at Iwakuni

but they are currently at Camp Fuji near Tokyo for training exercises. In the past when typhoons have come, they have been restricted to the barracks and brought in MREs (meals ready to eat.)

[lebkuchen]

2. CNNI is reporting winds now of 165 mph

I wonder how accurate that is.

[Akoto]

3. Wow. I wonder ...

Are typhoons of this magnitude common in that part of the world? Do they build to endure these storms?

[Longhorn]

4. My son went through four typhoons last fall

though not all were of that magnitude. But they happen so often he forgets to even tell me about them! They had one just last week near Tokyo but it didn't amount to much where he was at Camp Fuji.

[Art_from_Ark]

7. I remember that typhoon

In the northern exurbs of Tokyo, it was little more than sporadic gusts and occasional spurts of heavy rain.

[Art_from_Ark]

6. Yeah, they're pretty common

Every year there are reports about "super big typhoons", but they generally run out of a lot of steam once they hit the Japanese mainland.

[psychopomp]

10. On the islands that take the brunt of the typhoon's energy

those in the Ryukus (Okinawa, etc.) construct from concrete only. Almost every home is built of concrete in Okinawa.

[Art_from_Ark]

5. I don't know how accurate that is, either, but the Sasebo forecast

calls for maximum winds of less than 40mph. Sasebo is currently in the midst of the storm, but things should calm down a bit by 6:00 p.m. local time (it's now noon in Japan). Winds will pick up a bit again in the early morning, but will probably be less than 30mph.

http://weather.yahoo.co.jp/weather/jp/42/8420/42202.html

[Art_from_Ark]

13. CNNI must have been confusing miles with kilometers

The Japan Times says the highest winds were 162 km/hour, or about 100 mph.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?nn20050906a2.htm

[psychopomp]

8. It's right over us

right now and it is one of the less violent typhoons I have experienced here (this makes number five or so). I think it mostly blew itself out and the rain is just a steady light rain.

[psychopomp]

9. Scratch that

It's gusting up now, lol. Still, it is not a very destructive storm... I think!

[Art_from_Ark]

11. Yahoo Weather says it's going to get a little hairy in N Kyushu

with winds of up to 50mph this afternoon. Hang in there!

[psychopomp]

12. Thanks, Art

The worst is over and we here in the North came out okay as I am sure you know by now.:toast:

I slept through the roughest point of the storm. :)

[Art_from_Ark]

14. Glad to hear you made it

I think she'll be cooling down fast now that she's over the Sea of Japan