Typhoon Songda

Landfall | Summary
Posting Date: September 9, 2004, 2:00:00 PM

Typhoon Songda was the 7th typhoon to strike Japan this season. The storm crossed the westernmost parts of Kyushu and Honshu before crossing the Sea of Japan to make a second landfall, as a tropical storm, on Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido on Wednesday. Over the weekend, Typhoon Songda brought maximum sustained winds of near 110 mph and 8 inches of rain to Okinawa, canceling flights, ferries and train service. Songda then made landfall near Nagasaki, on Kyushu island, with maximum sustained winds of near 100 mph. More than a million households on Kyushu were left without power. Sustained winds were about 85 mph by the time the storm reached Honshu, though gusts of up to 130 mph were recorded in Hiroshima. The record number of typhoons to hit Japan this year reflects above average storm activity in the Pacific basin. Officials from the National Typhoon Center of the Japan Meteorological Agency expect the heightened activity to continue due to above-average water temperatures in the Pacific. The AIR tropical cyclone team has run scenarios using the storm’s actual track and information about Songda’s meteorological parameters. Five are now posted on the scenarios page of this website, where CATRADER® and CLASIC/2™ clients can view wind speed and loss maps. In addition, event sets are now available for download. Note that the loss estimates provided in these event sets are provided in Japanese yen.

Landfall | Downloads
Posting Date: September 9, 2004, 2:00:00 PM