KADENA AIR BASE, Okinawa — Typhoon Songda is expected to spare Okinawa its full fury as it passes almost 155 miles to the island’s southwest early Monday on a collision course with Taiwan.
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center forecasts Typhoon Songda, named for a river in northern Vietnam, to strike northern Taiwan on Tuesday with sustained winds at its center whipping along at 98 mph with gusts at 120 mph.
The strongest winds on Okinawa are expected to be 52 mph gusts Sunday afternoon. Sustained winds are not expected to exceed 35 mph, according to Kadena Air Base’s 18th Weather Flight.
Military bases on Okinawa went into Tropical Cyclone Condition of Readiness 3 on Friday morning, meaning windy conditions were expected within 48 hours. Base residents were instructed to clean up outside their homes and offices.
While the storm may spare Okinawa high winds, it likely will be a wet Labor Day weekend. The 18th Weather Flight’s five-day forecast calls for mostly cloudy weather starting Saturday morning, with rain beginning Saturday afternoon and continuing through Tuesday.
