Saturday, August 4, 2012

Tropical Storm Haikui Update #3

Tropical Storm Haikui is now nearing Okinawa. It was last located approximately 120km east northeast of Naha. Maximum sustained winds have slightly increased to 85kph with gusts of up to 110kph. Haikui has also slowed down and is currently moving west northwestward at 20kph.

As of 5am this morning, JMA has now issued Storm and High Waves Warnings for Okinawa (and Amami), along with Gale and Thunderstorm Advisories for the surrounding islands. Kadena has also issued TCCOR 1 for today. Stormy conditions should continue worsening in the next 3 hours. Please stay inside and continue to monitor developments on the news.

Radar from JMA


Latest radar image shows the center of the storm slowly moving from the east. Bands of light to moderate rain also continue to affect Okinawa and the nearby islands. Rainfall reports so far range from 30 to 60mm and another 50mm could fall today. Along with the rains, sustained winds of up to 65kph are now beginning to be reported especially in Daito and Amami Islands. As Haikui closes in, expect winds of up to 80 to 100kph accompanied by squally showers and rough waves. For more radar images, warnings, and forecasts from Japan Meteorological Agency, please click HERE

IR Image from NRLMRY


TS Haikui continues to slowly consolidate as it nears Okinawa. The bulk of the convection remains situated across the western and southern portion of the storm. Dry air continues to be entrained especially along the eastern part of Haikui. We expect slow intensification to continue today as Haikui moves across Okinawa and the nearby Japanese Islands. Stormy conditions in this region should last for another 12 to 24 hours.

TS Haikui will move into the Eastern China Sea tomorrow and should have a faster rate of intensification. Depending on the trends, it could become a typhoon as early as tomorrow evening or early Tuesday morning. Forecast tracks continue to take Haikui into Eastern China by either Tuesday evening or Wednesday as a strong typhoon.

We'll have another update later today.
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Issued (2330 UTC) 730am PhT 080512

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