Typhoon 04W (Mawar), # 3: 63-mph gusts forecast early Tuesday
Published: June 3, 2012
2:30 p.m. Sunday, June 3, Japan time: Likelihood of stronger winds for Okinawa has increased. 18th Wing Weather Flight now projects sustained 52-mph winds and 63-mph gusts between 11 p.m. Monday and 7 a.m. Tuesday as Typhoon Mawar rumbles 130 miles south-southeast of Okinawa. At 9 a.m., Mawar was 631 miles south-southwest of Kadena Air Base, moving slowly north-northeast at 7 p.m.
Precipitation will be hard to gauge, weather flight officials said; mostly rainbands and thunderstorms are associated with Mawar (having flown from Manila to Osan yesterday, I saw that for myself, a whole armada of anvil-headed systems headed northeast).
Weather officials anticipate an upgrade to Tropical Cyclone Condition of Readiness 2 sometime late this evening. Hit your checklists, finish your outside cleanups, fill your closets with typhoon goods, check your radio’s batteries to see if they’re good, visit the ATM and fill up your gasoline cans and car tanks.
Among those supplies, do not include a refresher of your beer cooler or your wine or whiskey supply. Intoxicated is not the state in which you'd want to be in the unlikely event the roof blew off your house or several windows were damaged in your quarters.
May not seem like any more than banana winds, but this is no joke: Mawar could turn closer to Kadena and make for even worse conditions. As always, opt on safety’s side.
