October 12, 2219 UTC	October 18, 0504 UTC
October 18, 2136 UTC	October 20, 0135 UTC

TOKAGE BECOMES THE LATEST TYPHOON TO STRIKE JAPAN

As it passes high above the equatorial Tropics, the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission or TRMM satellite collects valuable data and images of tropical cyclones that can be used to provide valuable information on their intensity and location, especially over remote parts of the open ocean. This set of images from TRMM follow Typhoon Tokage (27W) from its birth in the central West Pacific Ocean east of the Mariana Islands to its impact on the southeast coast of Japan.

The first image was taken at 22:19 UTC on the 12th of October 2004 when the storm was still organizing after having passed through the central Marianas. At the time of this image, Tokage was classified as a weak tropical storm by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center with maximum sustained winds estimated at 35 knots (40 mph). The image shows a horizontal map of the near surface rainfall intensity obtained from the TRMM satellite. Rain rates in the center portion of the swath are from the TRMM Precipitation Radar or PR, the first and only precipitation radar in space. The PR provides fine resolution rainfall data and details on its vertical structure. Rain rates in the outer swath are from the TRMM Microwave Imager or TMI. The rain rates are overlaid on infrared (IR) data from the TRMM Visible Infrared Scanner (VIRS). This first image shows no evidence of an eye though good banding is apparent in the rain field (blue arcs) and in the cloud field as indicated by the swirls in the IR data (white areas). Some moderate (green) to heavy (red) rain areas appear west of the center.

Over the course of the next several days, Tokage intensified becoming a major Category 4 typhoon on the 17th with maximum sustained winds estimated at 125 knots (144 mph). The storm moved west then turned north and began to weaken. The next image shows Tokage on the 18th of October at 05:04 UTC. Tokage was now a Category 3 storm with winds of 105 knots (121 mph). The image shows a cut away view of the the rain field looking west. The isosurface represents 15 dbZ (or light intensity rain) and is colored with respect to height. Blue indicates low, green moderate and red high towers. The cut away view shows a vertical cross section of the rain intensity as measured by the PR. This image provides an excellent perspective on the structure of the rainbands whereby moderately high towers (green tops) are separated by lower areas of rain (blue sides). The highest towers as indicated by the red shading are closest to the center. The vertical cross section reveals the very intense rain (black areas) of 2 inches per hour in the rainbands. Tokage has a very large eye at this time.

The next image was taken less than a day later at 21:36 UTC on the 18th when Tokage was south of Okinawa. Similar to the first image, this top down view shows an excellent example of the large eye associated with Tokage. Typically tropical cyclones develop large eyes as powerful storms weaken and their associated wind field spreads horizontally outward from the center. Most of the rain intensity is now light (blue) to moderate (green).

The final image was taken at 01:35 UTC on the 20th of October as Tokage was impacting Japan. The eye is no longer visible and Tokage was downgraded to a tropical storm. However, good banding still exists in the rain field north of the center (green arcs) and areas of heavy to intense rain (darker red areas) are occurring over the coastline. This is likely a result of the storm's circulation interacting with the topography of Japan. So far at least 60 people have died in Japan as a result with numerous others missing due to flooding, mud slides and large waves. Tokage, which means lizard in Japanese, became the record 8th storm to strike Japan this season.