at 11:11 AM by Mallory Schnell

Typhoon Phanfone Could Hit Japan This Weekend

Typhoon Phanfone is strengthening in the western Pacific and could threaten Japan as early as this weekend. Phanfone, which was only a tropical storm just a day or so ago, is now possessing winds of 130 mph and could reach sustained winds of 150 mph (or what’s considered a “super typhoon“) by tomorrow. Conditions are favorable for the strengthening of this typhoon, as warm ocean water and light wind shear are present.

A typhoon is the same weather phenomenon as a hurricane, it just occurs in a different part of the world; a typhoon is a storm that affects the Northwest Pacific. There is currently some uncertainty as to how sharp Typhoon Phanfone will turn, allowing for a few possible scenarios for the track of this storm. These scenarios were explained by The Weather Channel in a recent article:

1) Phanfone curves sharply, passing south and east of mainland Japan and brushing the country with high waves and possibly a little bit of rain.

2) Phanfone curves north a bit later, too late to miss Japan, and instead slams into heavily populated areas of central and eastern Japan, including Kyoto, Kobe, Osaka, Nagoya and Tokyo. These areas (the Kansai, Chubu and Kanto regions) have a combined population of 85 million.

3) Phanfone waits much longer to recurve, taking it more toward Okinawa, before recurving over much of mainland Japan, starting with the island of Kyushu and western parts of Honshu and potentially spreading a swath of torrential rain northeastward across most of Japan’s major cities.

Below is the current forecasted track of Typhoon Phanfone, as the main impact is to affect Japan on Sunday:

Typhoon

As Phanfone moves closer to Japan and into cooler waters, it will weaken somewhat, but heavy rain, flooding, and damaging winds are all expected threats from this large storm.