Typhoon Bolaven Update #15

Typhoon Bolaven is now weakening as it accelerates out of Okinawa. It was last located approximately 150km north northwest of Okinawa. Maximum sustained winds are down to 185kph with gusts of up to 220kph; Bolaven is now a Category 3 on the Saffir-Simpson Scale. Typhoon Bolaven is currently moving north northwestward at 20kph.

Radar Image from JMA

Latest radar from Okinawa shows the eye of Bolaven moving farther away from the Ryukyu Islands. However, bands of heavy rains are still pummeling Okinawa and the nearby islands so still expect rains to continue throughout today. Moreover, winds on the backside of the system will continue to fall around the Tropical Storm strength so winds of 60 to 80kph sustained are still possible in the next 6 hours or so. For more radar images, warnings, and forecasts from Japan, please click HERE

Typhoon Bolaven made landfall in Okinawa yesterday evening at around 7:30pm local time near the town of Higashi. Sustained winds of as high as 110kph were recorded in some spots along with gusts of up to 150kph. While we haven't really received any typhoon-force sustained winds from the system, Nago Station reported a minimum barometric pressure of 934hPa which is very impressive still. If you have your own reports, images, or videos, please share them to us at philippineweather@yahoo.com

IR Image from NRLMRY

As the system moves away from the Japanese Islands, it will start to encounter cooler waters and increasing wind shear. Already, the system's core is starting to degrade with the eyewall no longer visible on microwave. Furthermore, convective activity continues to decline with warmer cloud tops observed on satellite. Make no mistake, the system is still a powerful typhoon and will likely stay that way for another 24 hours.

Typhoon Bolaven will continue moving northward around the Subtropical Ridge to its east. It is forecast to pass within 150km to the west of Jeju Island by Tuesday morning as a weakening Category 2 Typhoon. It will continue moving west of South Korea before making landfall in North Korea by late Tuesday afternoon as a Category 1 Typhoon. It will pass near Pyongyang later that night and will cross into China by Wednesday morning as a weak Tropical Storm.

We'll have more updates later this afternoon. Stay safe!
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Issued (23 UTC) 7am PhT 082712