Typhoon 17W (Sanba), # 18; Sasebo, Daegu now in TCCOR 3

3:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 15, Japan time: Sasebo Naval Base and all Area IV installations in the Daegu area of South Korea accelerated into Tropical Cyclone Condition of Readiness 3 early Saturday afternoon.

Though Typhoon Sanba is forecast to roar 110 miles west of Sasebo around 7 a.m. Sunday, officials posted TCCOR 3 as a precaution. The base is forecasting maximum winds of 35 to 45 mph with gusts up to 60 overnight Sunday into Monday, with showers and thunderstorms throughout the period.

Facilities closures at Camps George, Henry and Walker and K-2 Air Base will be determined Sunday, public affairs officials announced on the USAG Daegu Facebook page.

U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan’s official Facebook page warns residents in Korea to expect as much as 7 inches of rain and sustained 45-mph winds and 60-mph gusts after Sanba makes landfall around mid-morning Monday, still packing significant winds at its center, 86-mph sustained and 104-mph gusts.

Chinhae Naval Base and Pusan should feel the worst of it, with Daegu next, almost directly in Sanba’s path. Sanba should rumble 30 miles west of Chinhae and 57 miles west of Pusan around noon to 1 p.m., 21 miles west of Daegu at 3 p.m., 85 miles east of Kunsan Air Base at 2 p.m., 82 miles east of Osan Air Base and Camp Humphreys at 5 p.m. and 85 miles east of Yongsan and Camp Red Cloud between 6 and 7 p.m.

Here on Okinawa, where we remain in TCCOR 1, wind gusts, they be a-pickin’ up even as I type this. Closing in on 35-mph gusts as Sanba keeps Samba-ing north at a pretty good clip, close to 12 mph. The track has wobbled a bit east in the last three hours, but Sanba is still on track to take a 2-by-4 to the island around 5 a.m. Sunday or thereabouts, still packing a solid haymaker or three, sustained 150-mph winds and 167-mph gusts, according to Kadena Air Base’s 18th Wing Weather Flight forecast timeline.

For the non-believers and Doubting Thomases (gosh, am I showing my age) who insist that Sanba will provide little more than rain and banana winds and are telling anybody with a pulse just that, a word to the wise. Let me paraphrase the legendary ancient mariner John Paul Jones: This storm has not yet begun to fight. Sure, it may pull an instant replay of Bolaven; then again, it may borrow a page from Typhoon Muifa’s playbook last August, drop in at Mihama, grab a latte, prop up its feet on the outdoor café table and watch the ferris wheel shake, rattle and maybe even roll in the wind while it pounds the island. Remember, 40 inches of rain in 24 hours? Place looked like a war zone when the storm ended.

Point being: Take Sanba too lightly and you may get a visit from the cousin of all typhoons, Mr. Murphy of Murphy’s Law fame. Opt on the side of caution, this ancient desk-flier always says. Pacific Storm Tracker has your safety in mind. At least you’ll be safe if you don’t tempt fate or push the envelope (another 1960s expression).

Oh, my, I say as I gaze out the window. There goeth a rain squall. Sideways rain, gusty winds, a creature of the ornithological persuasion being blown backwards by the gusts.

But I digress. Here’s the latest from the 18th Wing Weather Flight (gad, I hope that bird is OK):

-- Sustained 35-mph winds and greater, 3 p.m. Saturday (right about now).
-- Sustained 40-mph winds and greater, 4 p.m. Saturday.
-- Sustained 58-mph winds and greater, 9 p.m. Saturday.
-- Maximum 150-mph winds and 167-mph gusts, 5 a.m. Sunday.
-- Winds diminishing below 58 mph, 2 p.m. Sunday.
-- Winds diminishing below 40 mph, 7 p.m. Sunday.
-- Winds diminishing below 35 mph, 11 p.m. Sunday.

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