Typhoon Tokage is Weakening Before it Strikes Japan

Okinawa, Japan (HDW) October 19, 2004 – Typhoon Tokage is approximately 85 nautical miles south-southwest of Okinawa, Japan and is moving north-northeastward at 12 knots according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC). The typhoon is expected to continue to accelerate to the east, and it is expected to lose power as it gets closer to land. The picture above, taken today by a NASA satellite, displays Typhoon Tokage as it prepares to join other typhoons ravaging Japan in this record cyclone season.

Typhoon Tokage is expected to weaken as it tracks into cooler sea surface temperatures, sucks drier air into itself, and encounters more vertical wind shear, according to the JWTC. This typhoon was originally expected to make it to the Japanese home islands and reach Kyushu and Tokyo, but hitting land fall and losing power may spare major Japanese cities from the calamities of other typhoons that have hit in this worst of Japanese typhoon seasons. If this typhoon hits Japan’s major cities, then flooding and heavy rains can be expected.