Typhoon Phanfone

Landfall | Summary
Posting Date: October 6, 2014, 1:00:00 PM

Typhoon Phanfone Makes Landfall Near the Central City of Hamamatsu

Typhoon Phanfone made landfall at just before 0:00 UTC on October 6 near the Japanese city of Hamamatsu, with a central pressure of 965 mb.  Sustained 10-minute winds at landfall were just over 80 mph with gusts of up to 115 mph. Phanfone had weakened considerably by the time it made landfall with winds equal to those of a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale; just five days earlier Phanfone had intensified to the equivalent of a Category 4 storm.

Current Conditions

The storm nevertheless delivered torrential rain and strong winds to central Japan in general and to the Kanto region in particular. The storm was most intense in the Tokyo metropolitan area between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. local time, but minutes after the eye had passed, precipitation thinned to a light drizzle and blue skies appeared. By the afternoon the storm had moved out into the Pacific and forecasters were expecting conditions to improve by nightfall. Typhoon Phanfone has now developed into a low pressure system east of Japan moving northeastward at 46 mph, and is no longer a major threat to the region.

Weather advisories remain in place for most of Japan, and there are warnings currently in Iwate, Miyagi, Ibarki, Saitama, Nagano, Niigata, and Ishikawa for flood, high waves, and heavy, ground-loosening rain.

Wind and Rain

While the strongest winds from Typhoon Phanfone were on the immediate coast, there were near record-setting winds recorded in the city of Tokyo. A peak gust of 47 mph was recorded in Central Tokyo with a gust of 70 mph at Haneda Airport. The highest historical wind speeds for Tokyo include a 69.3 mph sustained wind and a 104.5 mph gust both recorded on September 1, 1938. Okinawa Prefecture received very strong winds across all three of its meteorological stations. Kitadaito Station recorded a gust of 101 mph before the instrumentation went out. Both Minamidaito and Kyuto Stations recorded gusts of 90 mph. All three stations received sustained winds of 57 to 64 mph, with the center of Phanfone 75 miles away.

Flooding is expected to be a major concern for this event due to expected storm surge of 3 to 6 feet and large amounts of rainfall. Mount Amagi recorded the maximum precipitation from Phanfone at 19.17 inches. Tokyo received 10.06 inches of rain and Yokohama measured 12.72 inches. Rainfall records have been broken in some areas, with the city of Shizuoka recording 3.42 inches per hour and Hiratsuka in Kanagawa Prefecture recording 2.83 inches.

As well as inland flooding the heavy rainfall brings with it the widespread risk of landslides. The search for victims of last week’s eruption of Mount Ontake has been suspended because the high accumulation of volcanic ash on the mountain has elevated the risk of landslides in the area.

Reported Damage and Disruption

Across central and eastern Japan more than 1 million people were advised to evacuate to shelters, and elementary and junior high schools were closed. Hundreds of domestic flights were canceled, bullet train service on the Tokaido Shinkansen Line between Tokyo and Osaka was disrupted, and commuter trains were delayed or suspended during the morning rush hour. Toyota, Honda and Nissan halted production at some plants in advance of the storm. The start of the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix in Suzuka was delayed, and the race was halted after a French driver was seriously injured in a crash.

An initial report issued by Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency at 9 p.m. local time indicates low counts of residential structures impacted by the storm:

Some landslides have been reported and more may result from slope saturation, but the indications at this time are that there will not be significant insurance losses. This will be the last ALERT posted for this event.

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Posting Date: October 6, 2014, 1:00:00 PM