Tag: Phanfone

Extreme Weather: Typhoon Phanfone Reaches Tokyo (Monday Morning)

Published on by tokyoaaron2 Comments

(Update: here in Nishi Tokyo, the storm peaked around 10:30am with a few hair-raising, house-shaking gusts of rain and wind, but by 11:30 all was quiet and the sun starting to come out. I went out to forage among the wreckage and fight tooth and claw with other scavengers for… buy garlic consomme bread bread for lunch. Seriously, R. made it safely to work in Ginza, and I haven’t yet heard of any real damage or injuries from other parts of Tokyo. looks like Tokyo’s luck held strong through yet another potential catastrophe…)

… and then, right around 10:30am, the rain started to rage and the wind to kick up. Not sure how strong the gusts are, but for now I’ve still got the door from my study to the driveway open.

Extreme Weather: Typhoon Phanfone

Published on by tokyoaaron1 Comment

(Update: 9am, and this should be the worst of it. Heavy rain conitnues, but none of the damaging winds we were led to expect. Trains are running with some delays; R. has gone to work. I’m at the computer, awaiting any calls from students who have questions on the assignments posted to the class Moodle pages.)

5 am and Typhoon Phanfone is still little more than a persistent rain here in Tokyo. However, the worst of it is yet to come: Phanfone’s touchdown is expected later this morning, around 9 am.

According to Dr. Jeff Masters’ blog on Weather Underground, the typhoon is weakening rapidly, and may be no more than a Category 1 storm by the time it does arrive in Tokyo. However, according to The Weather Channel website, The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) is anticipating sustained winds of 80 mph with gusts to 115 mph at the time it reaches us, which would make it the strongest wind on record (the sustained wind record is 69.3 mph, recorded in a typhoon on Sept. 1, 1938; the strongest wind gust is 104.5 mph, recorded the same day.)

Apparently warnings have also been issued for local tornados. I’ve heard some sustained thunder — apparently a warning sign for tornadoes — but so far nothing more than that.

Update: The Headmistress has just closed school for the day. Looks like I’ll be teaching virtual classes from home!

Trains, as of 6 am, are mostly running on time according to this timetable.

Let’s see what 9 am brings!