Typhoon 22W (Prapiroon), # 5: Okinawa not out of woods yet
Published: October 14, 2012
6:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 14, Japan time: Well, it was wishful thinking, I guess. Typhoon Prapiroon, though not nearly as big and beastly as Jelawat or Bolaven, apparently will hang close enough to Okinawa to make for a gusty, rainy Wednesday afternoon and evening.
Kadena Air Base’s 18th Wing Weather Flight extended forecast calls for windy, rainy conditions all week, but Wednesday will bring 35-mph sustained winds and 46-mph gusts in the morning, increasing to 40-mph sustained and 63-mph gusts come afternoon and evening. The Thai God of Rain is forecast by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center to rumble about 190 miles east-southeast of Okinawa around 8 p.m. Wednesday.
Because Prapiroon’s forward speed has slowed so much, its forecast pass of the Tokyo-Kanto Plain area will now wait until mid-afternoon Friday. The JTWC’s forecast track calls for it to buzz about 192 miles southeast of Yokosuka Naval Base at 3 p.m., at which point Prapiroon will still be packing 63-mph sustained winds and 80-mph gusts at its center.
Not as bad as its predecessors, but folks on Okinawa should start a general cleanup around house and office and plan that trip to the commissary and PX to supply up with those typhoon necessities. Stay smart, stay safe, as my pal Stormy would say.
