Super Typhoon 17W (Sanba), # 14
Published: September 14, 2012
7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 14, Japan time: Very, very heartening to see people bustling hither and thither through the Foster commissary this afternoon. Took an hour for me to get what little needed to be done for the office, but I’ll venture to say the commissaries and PXs all around island made a KILLING on this day. And more shopping will likely be done Saturday in the storm’s run-up by those who haven’t done so (and why, oh, why have you not done so yet?).
Seriously, the time for preparation is running out remorselessly, like sands through the hourglass. We’re already seeing/feeling Super Typhoon Sanba’s most outer bands. If it’s sitting outside the garage, put it inside. If the garage door is still open, shut it. If the trampoline is still up, take it down. If the grill and butane can are still outside, wheel them in. If your satellite dish is grievously exposed to the fiercest winds, you might want to consider taking it down. And if your car windows are open, by all means shut them (you’d be surprised how many folks leave their car windows open during a typhoon).
Okinawa remains in Tropical Cyclone Condition of Readiness 3. Expect that to change sometime later Friday evening or early Saturday morning. Sanba has slowed somewhat, again, and is tracking further east than expected, but is forecast to lean back north-northwest and roar 9 miles west of Kadena Air Base at 8 a.m. Sunday. Between 10 and 12 inches of rain is also forecast.
Latest forecast wind timeline from Kadena Air Base’s 18th Wing Weather Flight:
-- Sustained 35-mph winds or greater, 6 p.m. Saturday.
-- Sustained 40-mph winds or greater, 7 p.m. Saturday.
-- Sustained 58-mph winds or greater, midnight Saturday.
-- Maximum 144-mph sustained winds and 173-mph gusts, 8 a.m. Sunday.
-- Winds diminishing below 58 mph, 1 p.m. Sunday.
-- Winds diminishing below 40 mph, 6 p.m. Sunday.
-- Winds diminishing below 35 mph, 8 p.m. Sunday.
As for Korea, little has changed regarding forecast winds; Sanba should still be packing 104-mph sustained winds and 127-mph gusts as it crashes ashore just east of Mokpo on Korea’s southwestern coast around 3 p.m. Monday.
Closest points of approach have been adjusted somewhat. Sanba should pass 47 miles east of Kunsan Air Base at 8 p.m. Monday, 72 miles west of Chinhae Naval Base and 100 miles west of Pusan at 7 p.m., 62 miles west of Daegu at 9 p.m., 40 miles east of Osan Air Base and Camp Humphreys around midnight and 46 miles east of Yongsan Garrison and Camp Red Cloud around 1 a.m. Tuesday.
