Typhoon 17W (Sanba), # 22: TCCOR 1-E set for Okinawa
Published: September 15, 2012
7:30 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 16, Japan/Korea time: We're now getting battered by the back side of Typhoon Sanba. Winds have shifted completely around from the north and northwest to west and southwest. Peak winds were felt at 6 a.m. at Kadena, 62-mph sustained winds and 106-mph gusts. That's bled off some, to 56 and 74, far from what forecasts predicted, but still qulte trifling. Be careful. Stay inside until Tropical Cyclone Condition of Readiness Storm Watch is declared, sometime this afternoon.
Latest forecast wind timeline
-- Maximum 69-mph sustained winds, 123-mph gusts, 6 a.m. Sunday.
-- Winds receding below 58 mph, noon Sunday.
-- Winds receding below 40 mph, 4 p.m. Sunday.
-- Winds receding below 35 mph, 6 p.m. Sunday.
Sasebo Naval Base remains in TCCOR 2 and is still forecast to experience south-southwesterly 60-mph gusts Sunday evening into Monday.
Korea, specifically Pusan, Chinhae Naval Base and Area IV installations around Daegu are still in for a bit of a pounding as Sanba is forecast to remain a powerful Category 1-equivalent typhoon as it makes landfall on Korea's south coast at 9 a.m. Monday. It should keep its intensity, 75-mph sustained winds and 92-mph gusts, as it crosses the peninsula and exits near Kangnung into the Sea of Japan (or East Sea) early Monday evening. West Coast bases should feel some of Sanba's effects as well.
5:20 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 16, Japan time: Okinawa entered Tropical Cyclone Condition of Readiness 1-E (emergency) at 5:11 a.m. No outside activity allowed. Stay indoors until TCCOR Storm Watch.