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Typhoon 16W (Bolaven), # 15: Okinawa remains in TCCOR 1-C

1:15 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 26, Japan time: We’re almost there: sustained 30-mph winds and 55-mph gusts are occurring even as I type this, and the worst is still yet to come. Okinawa remains in Tropical Cyclone Condition of Readiness 1-C; expect that to change momentarily. Sustained 58-mph winds and greater are now forecast for between 1:30 p.m. today and 7 a.m. Monday, with peak 132-mph sustained winds and 161-mph gusts forecast for 6 p.m. Keep it buttoned down and stay safe!

9:15 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 26, Japan/Korea time: Shouldn’t be long before the big lock-in begins. Damaging winds of 58 mph or greater are now forecast for noon Sunday to 5 a.m. Monday by Kadena Air Base’s 18th Wing Weather Flight as Typhoon Bolaven continues to track toward Okinawa. Closest point of approach of 26 miles northeast by 8 p.m. is forecast by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.

Okinawa remains in Tropical Cyclone Condition of Readiness 1-C; expect that to change around noon. Please check with PST or your local command’s official Web page or Facebook page for the latest; we’ll try to post any TCCOR change as soon as we have it.

Even the locals are being told to stay indoors, kind of out of the ordinary considering the folks on Okinawa are used to such things, which should reinforce the idea that Bolaven will be a bad one.

Winds between 40 and 56 mph are actually occurring. Between 11 and 13 inches of rain are forecast for the storm’s duration. Here’s the 18th Wing Weather Flight’s latest forecast wind timeline:

-- Sustained 40-mph winds, now.
-- Sustained 58-mph winds and greater, noon Sunday.
-- Maximum 138-mph winds and 167-mph gusts, 7 p.m. Sunday.
-- Winds diminishing below 58 mph, 5 a.m. Monday.
-- Winds diminishing below 40 mph, 9 a.m. Monday.
-- Winds diminishing below 35 mph, 1 p.m. Monday.

Korea remains next on Bolaven’s travel itinerary. Wind parameters are pretty much the same as previously posted, southerly winds gusting up to 58 mph or worse with 7 to 9 inches of rain forecast for Tuesday afternoon.

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About the Author


Dave Ornauer has been with Stars and Stripes since March 5, 1981. One of his first assignments as a beat reporter in the old Japan News Bureau was “typhoon chaser,” a task which he resumed virtually full time since 2004, the year after his job, as a sports writer-photographer, moved to Okinawa and Ornauer with it.

As a typhoon reporter, Ornauer pores over Web sites managed by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center as well as U.S. government, military and local weather outlets for timely, topical information. Pacific Storm Tracker is designed to take the technical lingo published on those sites and simplify it for the average Stripes reader.