WPAC: SONGDA - Tropical Depression (1102/04W)

[StormingB81]

Just heard from Kadena weather.....OFFICIALLY the highest winds recorded were Sustained: 125 Gusting 155 MPH!!!!That I believe it was crazy here last night...was worried for a little bit and I dont get rattled to easily. like I said I will have pics in a couple of hours!

[StormingB81]

My Car:

[StormingB81]

Of of many signs down:

[phwxenthusiast]

glad you're all safe there... also good thing this one weakened a little faster than expected, just imagine if it hit you guys as a high-end Cat 3...

[StormingB81]

Well they did record widns here of 125 mph and gusting to 155...and i could believe it I was questioning the call of a cat 1 storm because it was nothing of that last night here

[Infdidoll]

I'm hearing several people say that a 125 mph gust was recorded on Futenma. I'm trying to find out where they got this info...I actually believe it. We are right next to Futenma and it was brutal here, but I still want to see it from an official source.

[Infdidoll]

Also been hearing the worst of the damage is from the stretch between Futenma to Kinser.

[StormingB81]

Well Kadena has it on the weather site saying the recorded that..prolly got it from the flight staff there..I am telling you I liove on foster and we got hammered last night there is ALOT of damage.....I know these winds where OVER 100MPH for awhile last night and I kept thinking I thought they said this was a cat 1..it felt like no such thing...my poor car...lol

[StormingB81]

Also been hearing the worst of the damage is from the stretch between Futenma to Kinser.

I wonder how that is cause we have ALOT of damage here on foster with down street lights, downed signs..traffic lights turned 45 degrees then what is supposed to..score board crumbled up like paper bleachers all twisted up and alot of smashed windows and down trees of course....I spoke to soon when I thought it wasnt going to be bad then we had that couple of hour stretch where all you know what broke out..even suprised me..I never seen it be calm and then that destructive over just a short period of time..I mean it was calm all day untill about 830pm

[StormingB81]

http://weather.kadenaforcesupport.com/update/tcir.html

Here Kadena weather says the strongest winds

[phwxenthusiast]

hmm, interesting, i don't save JTWC's prognostics but just before Songda made its CPA to Okinawa, they listed it as a Cat 1 with 75 gusting to 90kts, also mentioning the wind reports from Miyakojima...

but as you said Naha Airport recorded 156mph gusts and from what you guys are also saying on your observations, this might have been stronger than a Cat 1...

[StormingB81]

The damage I see with trees being flown around like paper in a breeze....trees that are like 5-6 feet from the stump...twisted metal and signs and treet post down liek its cool..it was alot stronger then a cat 1

[Infdidoll]

We drove around earlier today and that's definitely true. Foster was bad, so was Kadena, but Futenma was a MESS and so was Kinser. Both were still in TCOR 1- Recovery long after everyone else had been cleared. Naha reported the highest winds on the island with 136 knot gusts and Futenma and Kinser are pretty close to Naha so that is why.

Verification: http://kadenaforcesupport.com/weather.html

Text of the bulletin:

TROPICAL CYCLONE INFORMATION RELEASE LOG

1. THIS IS THE FINAL BULLETIN ON TROPICAL STORM SONGDA. AS OF 29/0934L, WE ARE IN TROPICAL CYCLONE CONDITION OF READINESS ALL CLEAR. AT 29/0300L, TROPICAL STORM SONGDA WAS LOCATED AT 28.6 DEGREES NORTH AND 129.2 DEGREES EAST, WHICH IS APPROXIMATELY 146 NAUTICAL MILES NE OF OKINAWA. IT HAD WINDS GUSTING TO 75 KNOTS NEAR ITS CENTER AND WAS MOVING TO THE NE AT 29 KNOTS.

2. TROPICAL STORM SONGDA IS RAPIDLY EXITING THE REGION AND IS NOT FORECAST TO RETURN TO OKINAWA. THE STRONGEST WINDS OBSERVED ON OKINAWA WERE SUSTAINED AT 109 KNOTS WITH 136 KNOT GUSTS AT NAHA AT 28/2128L.

3. REMARKS: SEA CONDITION DANGER IS IN EFFECT.

[Chacor]

WTPQ20 RJTD 290600
RSMC TROPICAL CYCLONE ADVISORY
NAME DEVELOPED LOW FORMER STS 1102 SONGDA (1102)
ANALYSIS
PSTN 290600UTC 33N 134E
MOVE NE 30KT
PRES 982HPA
MXWD 050KT
30KT 300NM EAST 200NM WEST =

[Chacor]

http://www.jma.go.jp/en/amedas_h/yester ... oupCode=65

Max sustained at Naha Airport was 39.5 m/s or 76 kt. A 135 kt gust based on that sustained wind seems unlikely.

EDIT:
According to Wunderground, http://www.wunderground.com/history/air ... story.html, peak wind at Naha was at 1300 UTC: 20076GP99KT. 99 kt gusts.

[dexterlabio]

What category is Songda when it hit near Okinawa? The damages there are quite huge, I guess it was at least a major one. Though some strong tropical storm force winds can also cause the same damages. Conson last year was able to bring down an Acacia tree when it was a TS.

[Chacor]

What category is Songda when it hit near Okinawa? The damages there are quite huge, I guess it was at least a major one. Though some strong tropical storm force winds can also cause the same damages. Conson last year was able to bring down an Acacia tree when it was a TS.

Peak winds from Okinawa appear around 13-14 UTC. 1500 UTC JTWC warning had it at 75 kt, although Kitahara (Kumejima Airport) reported an 80 kt sustained wind at 1300 UTC. That's the highest JMA-approved observation I can find from the islands.

The report of 108 kt sustained G 136 kt from Kadena appears to be unverified and I would take it with more than a grain of salt. There are no JMA observations of gusts higher than 99 kt (Naha 13Z) or sustained winds above 80 kt (Kumejima 13Z).

[StormingB81]

I dunno but it was reeally nad..the wind was shaking everything...i mean at wont point alls you saw was just debris flying everywhere....I am not saying it could have been 150mph but i know it was atleast over 100!

[Chacor]

For the record, the JTWC had the storm north of Kadena by its 1500 UTC warning last night. The discussion attached to that warning noted a peak gust of 89 kt (103 mph) at Kadena. It's unlikely that the southern semicircle of the typhoon would've been able to produce the 108 kt sustained/136 kt gust winds reported.

That said, the peak gust at Kadena was at 1329 UTC, with a 95 knot gust. That's nearly 110 mph. Probably not impossible that there were isolated gusts stronger than that.

[Infdidoll]

http://www.jma.go.jp/en/amedas_h/yesterday-91236.html?areaCode=000&groupCode=65

Max sustained at Naha Airport was 39.5 m/s or 76 kt. A 135 kt gust based on that sustained wind seems unlikely.

EDIT:
According to Wunderground, http://www.wunderground.com/history/air ... story.html, peak wind at Naha was at 1300 UTC: 20076GP99KT. 99 kt gusts.

Why would the military lie and give false reports? Judging from the damage I've seen and because I've experienced the equivalent of a category 2 storm, I'm inclined to believe that data is correct.