Ma-on pounded Tokyo overnight

[PurdueWx80]

Japan has also had a record number of landfalling storms this year. Goes to show what kind of interesting connections there can be between the East and West.

TOKYO (Reuters) - The most powerful typhoon to hit eastern Japan in a decade headed out to sea on Saturday after pummelling Tokyo, leaving two dead, snarling transport on a long holiday weekend and forcing thousands in the countryside to evacuate.

Ma-on was the record ninth typhoon to hit Japan this year and the second in two weeks. Four people were missing and thousands stranded at the start of a three-day weekend after hundreds of flights were canceled.

Around 2,400 people throughout Japan were evacuated from their homes, seeking refuge in schools and public halls, Kyodo news agency said.

"This was definitely the most powerful typhoon to hit eastern Japan in the last 10 years," said a Meteorological Agency official.

But by 7:30 p.m. the storm, the speed of its winds falling, was heading out into the Pacific.

Torrential rain and high winds lashed the capital, halting service on several subway lines and flooding streets in parts of downtown Tokyo with knee-deep water.

"I really should have stayed at home," said a man struggling with his umbrella in Tokyo's posh Ginza shopping district.

Some parts of central Tokyo were hit with as much as 69 mm (2.7 inches) of rain in an hour, NHK national television said.

Two people were killed, including a 55-year-old man whose house was buried in a landslide in Kamakura, a historic city just west of Tokyo, police said. A man in central Shizuoka prefecture was killed when struck by a falling telephone pole.

Four were missing, including a 74-year-old newspaper delivery man on his rounds in Chiba who was believed to have been swept into a river, police said.

Several people were injured, including a man who broke both legs in a fall from his roof while repairing it.

The storm made landfall in Shizuoka, 150 km (93 miles) west of Tokyo. Record strong gusts of 243 km (151 miles) an hour were recorded in one Shizuoka town.

Television footage showed railway lines inundated by floodwaters and cars bobbing in flooded streets in Shizuoka.

At least 87 international flights were canceled along with hundreds of domestic ones, Kyodo said.

HORRIBLE SCREECHING SOUND

The storm triggered several landslides around Japan.

"There was a horrible screeching sound of metal being twisted," one woman whose house was damaged in a mudslide told NHK. "I can't believe this has happened."

Part of an earthen bank collapsed onto train tracks in the Yotsuya area of central Tokyo, halting service.

Previously classified as a maximum category 5 typhoon on an international scale of 1 to 5, Ma-on weakened as it neared Japan.

Ma-on, which means "horse saddle" in Cantonese, also forced the postponement of qualifying for Sunday's Japanese Grand Prix motor racing event to the morning of the competition, an unprecedented move taken after the storm disrupted practice on Friday at Suzuka, around 300 km west of Tokyo.

The Grand Prix will be held as scheduled.

Storms and floods have killed at least 72 people in Japan this year and caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. The most recent, Meari, killed 27 last week when it raked the archipelago with torrential rain, setting off landslides.

Experts say Japan has suffered from an unusual number of storms due to warmer offshore waters and weaker than normal Pacific high pressure areas.

[Sanibel]

Gust of 151mph recorded at landfall! Certainly not a category 1 as some were advising...

[Rainband]

wow!!

[PurdueWx80]

That was likely in the mountains west of the city, but still, you are exactly correct in saying this was not our version of a Cat 1.

[LAwxrgal]

What were the highest sustained winds on Ma-on?

[PurdueWx80]

I thought it said in this article, but on a second check I realize I read it somewhere else. I believe they were near 100 mph according to the JMA.

[WeatherEmperor]

That is just horrible news. I really feel for all the folks in Japan after being hit by 8 typhoons this year. The best of luck to all for recovery efforts.

<RICKY>

[DoctorHurricane2003]

21 31.50 136.00 10/09/00Z 115 - TYPHOON-4
22 34.30 138.30 10/09/06Z 90 - TYPHOON-2


According to the JTWC....winds with Ma-On were 135 MPH just before striking land...but due to friction of the Japanese mountains, it weakened to 100 as it made landfall. No doubt, though, Category 3-4 force winds were felt as Ma-on skirted the coastline with 135 MPH winds.

[Hyperstorm]

It actually weakened to a 2 well before the storm's eyewall came close. It was weakening fairly rapidly, so by the time it came close to the coast it was a low-end 2. Of course, you'll get really strong winds in the highest mountains.

Plus, the JTWC is slow in reacting to intensity changes...

[sfgal]

DoctorHurricane2003: Can you provide me with some links that show tracks/graphics of Western Pacific typhoons? I'd like to see the track of Ma-On. Thanks!

[PurdueWx80]

This is as good as I can find right now. The black is the previous track, the rest is the forecast.

[Hyperstorm]

This is a good one:

[sfgal]

Thanks!!