Typhoon Vongfong

Post Landfall 1 | Summary
Posting Date: October 17, 2014, 6:15:00 AM

Typhoon Vongfong Leaves Japan Battered and Soaked

Typhoon Vongfong has tracked away from northern Japan and dissipated over the northwestern Pacific Ocean. The storm made landfall on Monday morning (local time), October 13, at the southwestern tip of Kyushu Island. It then accelerated and turned towards the northeast, passing across and impacting much of Japan. At one point considerably prior to landfall, Vongfong was a super typhoon with wind speeds above 268 km/h (166 mph), the equivalent of a Category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale, making it the strongest tropical cyclone to occur this year worldwide. Vongfong made landfall during a national holiday in Japan (Health and Sports Day). The holiday is celebrated in October to avoid the rainy season, but Vongfong did not oblige.

Vongfong’s Track Across Japan

Super Typhoon Vongfong formed southeast of Guam—the same region in which Typhoon Phanfone had formed a few days earlier. On October 8 at 15:00 UTC, while situated south-southeast of Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan, Vongfong reached super typhoon status with maximum winds of over 268 km/h (166 mph). It is the most intense tropical cyclone to occur worldwide this year and the fourth storm to reach the equivalent of a Category 5 storm (Saffir-Simpson scale).

Vongfong weakened as it continued moving across the Philippine Sea, and was at a Category 4 by October 9, with maximum sustained winds of nearly 240 km/h (149 mph). The storm was barely achieving Category 1 status by October 11 with maximum sustained winds of 120 km/h. Its structure started to deteriorate and become elongated, with the strongest winds on its northern side.

After tracking through Japan’s Ryukyu Islands, Vongfong made landfall on Monday, October 13, around 9:15 a.m. local time at the southwestern tip of Kyushu Island, near Kagoshima as the equivalent of a weak Category 1 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. From there the storm turned towards the northeast as it accelerated and tracked across Kyushu Island, Shikoku Island, and across the main island. By October 14 00 UTC, Vongfong had become extratropical (post-tropical), but still exhibited maximum sustained winds of just under 130 km/h (80 mph) as it moved offshore towards Hokkaido and over the northwestern Pacific Ocean.

Reported Damage and Impact

The storm delivered strong winds and heavy rain to much of Japan, leaving at least two dead and dozens injured. Its arrival coincided with the Health and Sports Day holiday weekend, snarling traffic across much of the country and causing the first cancellation of a Nippon Professional Baseball playoff because of a typhoon. The West Japan Railway Company, the biggest railway company operating in southwestern Japan, canceled 1,200 trains on all 24 routes for the first time in its history and hundreds of flights were canceled on Monday and Tuesday.

In Tokyo, wind gusts of more than 92 km/h (57 mph) and torrential downpours that produced 50–100 mm (2–4 inches) of rainfall were reported. Many locations in Kyushu, Shikoku, Honshu, and eastern Hokkaido reported rainfall of 50–100 mm (2–4 inches), and in Sumoto, almost 300 mm (12 inches) of rain fell in only 12 hours on Monday. The heaviest reported rainfall amounts—around 400 mm (15 inches)—were confined to high elevation locations on Shikoku.

Landslides and resultant road closures were reported at a dozen locations in Naha, Motobu, Kunigami, Ogimi, Chatan, Uruma, Higashi, and Nago. More than 150,000 homes lost power, and in Kesennuma city, where land along the water sank because of the 2011 earthquake, high tides reportedly flooded coastal areas.

The latest report issued by Japan’s Fire and Disaster Management Agency indicates low counts of residential structures impacted by flooding as a result of the storm, with 267 inundated below floor level, and 31 above. The majority of the properties impacted are located in Osaka, with another large group in Hyogo. Damage to crops, forestry, and the fisheries sector has also been reported.

Insured losses from Vongfong are not expected to be significant, and this will be the last NewsALERT issued for this event.

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Posting Date: October 17, 2014, 6:15:00 AM