We are just heading in to our first real typhoon. We had some light weather from a typhoon that passed near Japan a couple weeks ago, but this one is the real deal. It will actually hit land (which is not common). It should hit Osaka directly and Kobe will be on the outer edge of the center.
A typhoon is kind of like a Hurricane but in the Pacific. The Typhoons that hit Japan are not known for doing serious damage, at least, not in this area and not often. That is probably due in equal parts to strong infrastructure and weather patterns that weaken the typhoons. Typhoons are generally considered to represent high winds and lots of rain. I have heard rumors that all of the deep cement river beds with tiny little trickles in the bottom turn into rushing rivers after a good typhoon, though.
Of course, a particularly strong typhoon that hits in a rural area can cause serious damage, and there have definitely been fatalities before - but we aren't too worried this time around. We were assured that we don't need to take any special precautions. No, we don't need to reinforce our windows or set aside water. No, we probably won't lose electricity. We just need to stay indoors and enjoy a day off of work tomorrow.
In fact, the eye of this particular typhoon is suppose to be over us around midnight, so by morning tomorrow we may well be in the clear. Since school was already called off, and since the weather after a typhoon is supposedly lovely, tomorrow could be a lovely vacation.
In case the U.S. news does pick up the typhoon for any reason and you want to know exactly where we are, we are in the Kansai region of Japan on Honshu Island (the biggest island). We live in Hyogo Prefecture (which is huge, so don't assume we are having problems if someone else in Hyogo is) and we are just East of the center of Kobe city.
Please don't worry, though. While this will probably be an exciting storm for Russell and I, no one around us seems to be paying it much mind. The main focus is on staying dry.
Update: It is now morning after the typhoon. Russell and I are fine. There were no problems here. There was some crazy fast wind and tons of rain, though. I was starting to get fairly nervous at the peak of it, but everything was fine. I have not poked around on the Internet to see how the rest of Japan fared. Hope all is well in other areas.
4 comments:
Glad to hear you guys escaped unscathed!
So glad to hear you are okay.
Are typhoons actually different from hurricanes? Or do they just have a different name? Typhoon lesson please.
Also, I am glad you two are safe and dry.
I am still learning about typhoons myself. From what I can tell, a typhoon is a hurricane in the pacific. There are a few differences - I think I read that hurricanes always circle counter-clockwise whereas a typhoon can circle either way. Basically, though they are both cyclones in the ocean. Apparently they are strongest in warm waters - which is why the gulf gets hit so hard by hurricanes. It also means that strong typhoons tend to hit in southeast asia. I am no authority on this, but I suspect the cooler waters around Japan (as compared to southeast Asia) help tone them down a bit around here. Of course, typhoons can be bad around here - especially for the more rural islands- but the general consensus seems to be not to worry if you are living in Kobe. Apparently the last typhoon veered away from Kobe and made landfall farther up Honshu - which helped ease things a bit in our neck of the woods.
I think the typhoon season is reaching an end this year. Apparently the peak is in September. Hopefully there won't be any more fun this year.
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