Fraggle
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Apparently Fung-Wong caused some tornados in Taiwan, at least one off the north coast that dredged up lots of fish from the sea which the birds were devouring despite the wind. A friend in Taiwan tells me that in the Taitung area on the east coast "there was a so-called 'fire wind', when the typhoon passed by the central mountains, the air became very dry and the temperature reached 40-45 degrees, and suddenly caused all the trees to catch fire. Fortunately, it was a very baby "fire wind" which only lasted for half hour." We hear of the wind and rain effects of hurricanes, but I thought that was an interesting side-effect that doesn't get reported very often.
Reports from when it hit the island suggest that Fung-Wong was packing winds of between 144 and 180-kilometers an hour, which reduced to between 119 and 155 kilometers per hour as it traversed the island. CNN is reporting that some areas of Taiwan experienced up to 36 inches (900 mm). Thankfully I've not heard of any deaths on the island though.
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do you think it was cause a lot of damage?
I think the problem is that they had a hit just a week ago, and the more remote areas of the island won't have had time to recover from that yet. Taiwan is regularly hit by typhoons, so they are used to them hitting the island, but even so the damage takes a while to repair. I visited last September, and a number of roads were still closed after a typhoon hit about 3-4 weeks earlier. Some of the communities in the mountainous central spine will definitely be badly affected and probably cut off for a while. It's no wonder that most of the island's population is based on the west and north of the island rather than in the direct firing line of the Pacific storms.
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The first typhoon of 2007 to affect the whole of Taiwan, rather than just the northern half of the island. My girlfriend, who lives in the south, was telling me a couple of hours ago that the winds have been very strong down there causing damage to a lot of their plants and farming equipment, although they did not have any problems with losing electricity as happened on the eastern coast and northern parts of the island. But she was just a bit upset that this typhoon arrived on a Saturday, a non-working day, because they always get a day off work if there's a typhoon due to hit!
Reports of 2 dead so far, plus a couple more missing from a collapsed house in Taipei, and a lot of mudslides and flooding across the island. It's nice to see Taiwan actually getting a bit of coverage on the BBC from the bad weather; many of the news agencies here in the west seem to focus only on China in these situations with the little island off the eastern coast often hardly getting a mention despite almost always being hit first by the tropical storms...
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Thought you might all be interested in this:-
From Taiwan's ICRT "International Community Radio Taiwan" website (http://www.icrt.com.tw):-
"Subject: Web-Alert ---- Typhoon Sepat up-dates ...... August 18-th 9-AM ...
Typhoon Sepat made landfall south of Hualien at roughly 6 o'clock this morning and the eye of the mid-level storm is currently located approximately 70-kilometers south-west of Hualien.
Sepat is slowing down however ... and is now moving in a north-westerly direction at speeds averaging 22-kilometers an hour.
It is packing wind speeds of 155-kilometers an hour with gusts of just over 190-kilometers an hour being reported -- all of which are being felt across the island ....
Schools and government offices are closed throughout Taiwan today ....
Public transport is also disrupted islandwide --- with the Taiwan High Speed Rail canceling all trains until 6 o'clock this evening and Taiwan Railways canceling some of its south-bound trains operating on both east and west coast lines.
Domestic air travel is at a total shutdown and there are no flights until further notice - while some international flights are also cancelled -- especially those slated to head to Hong Kong.
Travelers are advised to check with their airlines before heading to the airport.
Emergency centers are operating islandwide .. and have reported small-scale flooding, minor damage to buildings as well as several storm related injuries across the island.
However ... authorities in Hualien are saying that water levels in sections Mu-Gua River are rising at an alarming rate. They are monitoring the situation and have said that the river could burst its banks in the coming hour.
Needless to say, the County's Storm Watch Center is advising people to avoid the area.
Meanwhile ... sporadic power-outages are continuing in parts of Hualien and Taidong Counties - where some 3-thousand households have been without electricity since early this morning.
Several thousand residents of townships located in Hualien, Nantou and Pingdong Counties have been evacuated to temporary shelters for the duration of the storm.
Eastern parts of the island are still receiving the bulk of the rain - with Fong-bing Township in Hualien County recording the most rain so far this morning --- with upwards of 450-millimeters falling since midnight.
The weather bureau says that it expects the eye of the storm to leave Taiwan over the Taichong area in the early afternoon. "
This storm is of great interest to me personally as I'm due to fly out next week to visit my girlfriend who lives in Pingdong County, Taiwan. Naturally I'm hoping everything is going to be ok with her and her family...
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Erm, I seem to be in the minority here but we're having the most massive storm here in Cheshire - near Manchester Airport. Torrential rain, maybe a strike a minute (so not too active) but enough water to make the rain pour down the INSIDE of the conservatory and flood the patio and road to a couple of inches deep! Seems to be easing a little now, but has been here a good 3/4 hour...
Stubbette
Yep, I'm enjoying that one myself moving past window over south Manchester. The rain's come in about 10 minutes ago, and the lightning flashes are fairly frequent (2-3 per minute).
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Big big storm pasing over at present, house shaking thunder and plenty of lightning, torrential stair-rod rain, strong gusting wind. Just heard the M62 eastbound has been shut due to a multi-vehicle accident - not surprising really if people were having to drive through this.
That doesn't surprise me, it was the heaviest storm I've seen over Manchester for quite a long time. Part of my job involves looking after student accommodation, and I've just taken two calls about water leaking through ceilings in a couple of properties following the very heavy rain...!
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Ours has moved off from Knutsford now - passed to the east of us, heading north, probably along the pennines. A couple of great close c-t-g strikes, and loads of rain. Still very muggy.
S
Possibly that's the one that's been over Manchester for quite a while now. It's certainly pretty lively, lots of IC and CG flashes, quite a few every minute. It's more-or-less overhead me at the moment, the lightning is very bright indeed. It came in from the southwest heading in a northeasterly direction, but it seems pretty big. I'm certainly enjoying the light show, just a shame I didn't bring my camera and tripod with me although the rain's now got heavy so would probably have spoiled any shots I could take from my office window...
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The above Thunderstorm started at 16.20 where I work in Beeston. Torrential rain lasted a good half hour - 40 mins at least.
We've just had a couple of flashes of IC lightning, visible from my perch next door to the BBC in Manchester. Can't hear any thunder because of the sound insulation, but the sky has been very black for the last couple of hours with occasional sharp rain showers.
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Thunder being heard every minute or so, only seen one flash of lightning, hardly any rain, think this one has skipped to the south!
ED: Here comes the rain. Quite heavy
The rain finally got to central Manchester about 5 minutes ago as the back end of the cloud goes overhead. Still quite a few flashes of lightning off to the east, but can't comment on any thunder as my office is soundproof (necessary as the A57(M) motorway is only about 50 yards away!). The rain has stopped pretty quickly though.
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Storm here in Knutsford Cheshire - seems to be moving across from Manchster direction. Thunder every minute or so and torrential rain. Came from nowhere!
Stubbette
I've just seen the first flash of lightning to the southwest of Manchester. It's gone very dark over Manchester City Centre over the last half hour or so, but mostly to the south of the city.
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Does anyone think the season will go on longer than normal?
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Last year TS Otto formed in the Atlantic basin on 29 November, lasting only a few days but extending the season into December. Last year's season also started early with a TD in April so last year's season was technically a very long one. Things started later this year, but maybe will continue right up to the end of November.
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Latest discussion (taken an hour to come through the email!):-
000WTNT43 KNHC 230856
TCDAT3
HURRICANE RITA DISCUSSION NUMBER 23
NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL
5 AM EDT FRI SEP 23 2005
RITA IS COMPLETING ITS EYEWALL REPLACEMENT CYCLE THIS MORNING...AS
THE LAST REPORT FROM AN AIR FORCE RESERVE HURRICANE HUNTER AIRCRAFT
SHOWED THAT THE INNER 15 N MI WIDE EYE HAD DISSIPATED AND A SINGLE
33 N MI WIDE EYE EXISTED. MAXIMUM FLIGHT-LEVEL WINDS AT 700 MB IN
THE NORTHEASTERN QUADRANT ARE 125-130 KT...WHICH HELPS SUPPORT AN
INITIAL INTENSITY OF 120 KT. THE AIRCRAFT DATA SHOWED THAT ANOTHER
WIND MAXIMA HAS FORMED ABOUT 60 N MI FROM THE CENTER...WHICH MIGHT
BE THE START OF ANOTHER OUTER EYEWALL. THE LATEST CENTRAL PRESSURE
REPORTED BY THE AIRCRAFT IS 927 MB.
RITA IS MOVING BETWEEN 300-305 DEGREES AT 8-9 KT. RAWINSONDE DATA
AT 00Z INDICATES THAT THE MID-LEVEL RIDGE IS STILL PRESENT OVER
TEXAS. THIS FEATURE SHOULD MOVE EASTWARD DURING THE NEXT 24-48
HR...ALLOWING THE CURRENT NORTHWESTWARD MOTION TO BECOME MORE
NORTHERLY. TRACK GUIDANCE IS NOW CLUSTERED ABOUT A LANDFALL ON THE
UPPER TEXAS COAST IN ROUGHLY 30 HR...WITH THE MODEL TRACK BEING
SPREAD BETWEEN SAN LUIS PASS AND SABINE PASS. THE FORECAST TRACK
UP TO LANDFALL IS ESSENTIALLY AN UPDATE OF THE PREVIOUS PACKAGE.
AFTER LANDFALL...THE GUIDANCE BECOME VERY DIVERGENT AS HIGH
PRESSURE BUILD TO THE WEST AND POSSIBLY NORTH OF RITA. GIVEN THE
SPREAD...THE FORECAST TRACK WILL CALL FOR LITTLE MOTION AFTER 72 HR
JUST AS THE PREVIOUS FORECAST DID. THIS STALLING WILL POSE A
SERIOUS RISK OF VERY HEAVY RAINFALL WELL INLAND.
THE INTENSITY FORECAST IS STILL PROBLEMATIC. SINCE RITA HAS
COMPLETED THE EYEWALL REPLACEMENT CYCLE AND IS OVER THE WARM EDDY
OF THE LOOP CURRENT...THERE IS A CHANCE IT COULD STRENGTHEN DURING
THE NEXT 12 HR. AFTER THAT...IT SHOULD MOVED NORTH OF THE EDDY...
POSSIBLY START ANOTHER EYEWALL CYCLE...AND POSSIBLY EXPERIENCE
INCREASING SOUTHERLY SHEAR. THE INTENSITY FORECAST THUS CALLS FOR
A SLIGHT INCREASE IN STRENGTH IN 12 HR...FOLLWED BY SLIGHT
WEAKENING. AN ALTERNATIVE SCENARIO IS THAT RITA DOES NOT
STRENGTHEN...AND GRADUALLY WEAKENS DUE TO SHEAR UNTIL LANDFALL.
THIS COULD HAPPEN IF THE SHEAR REACHES THE 25 KT VALUES FORECAST BY
THE GFS AND SHIPS MODELS.
FORECASTER BEVEN
FORECAST POSITIONS AND MAX WINDS
INITIAL 23/0900Z 26.8N 91.0W 120 KT
12HR VT 23/1800Z 27.6N 92.2W 125 KT
24HR VT 24/0600Z 28.9N 93.6W 120 KT
36HR VT 24/1800Z 30.4N 94.6W 80 KT...INLAND
48HR VT 25/0600Z 31.5N 95.0W 45 KT...INLAND
72HR VT 26/0600Z 33.0N 94.5W 30 KT...INLAND
96HR VT 27/0600Z 33.0N 94.5W 25 KT...INLAND
120HR VT 28/0600Z 33.0N 94.5W 25 KT...INLAND DISSIPATING
So, maybe a second EWR before the first has fully completed. Is that normal?
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Upto about 10 lightning strikes now, the storm is passing almost overhead me in a north-easterly-ish direction. The advantage of living in a giant toblerone-shaped building (a bit swiss chalet-like!) is that I can look up and see above me through the sloping roof. The downside is that all the rain hits the windows so it's very noisy! Another couple of flashes, and the rain is getting heavier.
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Second heavy rainfall of the afternoon here in Manchester, but just had the first couple of flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder. I missed the big lightning show on Thursday, so this is a bit of compensation. 3 flashes in the last minute or so.
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About 10 minutes of heavy rain, strong winds and quite a bit of thunder and lightning. It must have passed pretty close over me (just south of Manchester city centre). All of a sudden just eased off a couple of minutes ago but still rumbles of thunder every 30 seconds or so.
Typhoon Fung-Wong
in Hurricanes, Cyclones and Extreme weather worldwide
Posted
According to ICRT (International Community Radio Taiwan), Fung-Wong has left two dead, six injured and 140,000 without power across Taiwan. One of the dead fell off a shed roof he was trying to repair, perhaps not the safest thing to attempt to do during a typhoon, but sad nonetheless. But under the circumstances it looks like the authorities got their emergency planning much better this time compared to the last typhoon a couple of weeks ago. Incidentally, Fung-Wong apparently translates as "Phoenix"; my friend in Taiwan had a day off work (as is usual during a typhoon) in honour of the Phoenix typhoon...