NAHA, Okinawa — Wet enough for you? If not, just wait an hour or so.
Japanese meteorologists say Okinawa’s rainy season is off to a slow start, but it officially began Thursday.
It is the third latest date for the season’s start since meteorologists began compiling such statistics in 1951. This year’s wet season opened 14 days later than average and six days later than last year’s delayed start.
The slow start was attributed to the late formation of the seasonal rain front and the influence of a high-pressure system over the Pacific, the Okinawa Meteorological Observatory said.
Okinawa’s rainy season usually starts around May 8, a month earlier than the rest of Japan, and lasts until June 23, when the island’s weather sloshes over into the typhoon season.
This year’s typhoon season started early, with military forecasters on Kadena Air Base setting Tropical Cyclone Condition of Readiness 4 on Monday.
It was more than a week earlier than the usual June 1 start for the season, which lasts through November.
Also, since it is the rainy season, people here won’t be surprised to know the forecast for this Memorial Day holiday weekend on Okinawa calls for clouds and rain.
