Typhoon 22W (Prapiroon), # 2
Published: October 12, 2012
3:45 p.m. Friday, Oct. 12, Japan time: Typhoon Prapiroon is still a fairly good distance from Okinawa and should remain so for the next several days, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center forecasts. Closest point of approach at this time is 337 miles east at 5 a.m. Wednesday as it rumbles north. And it’s forecast to lose strength as it pushes north into cooler sea-surface temperatures and vertical wind shear.
But Prapiroon, which is Thai for god of rain, is close enough to be of concern because the forecast models are far from agreeing on which way it will go from there. At least one model suggests Prapiroon will curve west closer to Okinawa; others are predicting a more north to northeasterly route.
Kadena Air Base’s 18th Wing Weather Flight five-day forecast calls for sustained winds between 14 and 23 mph and gusts between 30 and 40 mph. Enough of a concern that the Marine Corps has called off its planned Foster Festival this weekend; no makeup date has been announced.
PST will keep a sharp eyeball on it.
