TRMM TYPHOON MAWAR HITS JAPAN

TYPHOON MAWAR BRUSHES JAPAN

Typoon Mawar hit the far eastern edge of the central Japanese island of Honshu, passing directly over Tokyo Bay and Chiba city. The storm interupted transportation and electrial services due to fallen trees. Several people were reported injured, and one person was killed indirectly by the storm. Oshima Island, south of Tokyo, reported winds up to 205 kph (127 mph). After side swiping Tokyo, Mawar headed back out to sea and began to weaken.

Back in 1997, the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite was launched to estimate rainfall over the global Tropics. TRMM, however, has proven itself to be a valuable platform for monitoring tropical cyclones, especially over remote parts of the ocean. These images of Mawar were taken by TRMM as it cut across the western Pacific and hit Japan. The first image was taken at 09:35 UTC on 19 August 2005 just before Mawar was identified as a tropical depression. At the time, the system was passing just to the north of the Northern Mariana Islands and well south of Iwo Jima. The image shows the horizontal distribution of rain intensity within the storm. Rain rates in the center of the swath are from the TRMM Precipitation Radar (PR), while those in the outer portion are from the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI). The rain rates are overlaid on infrared (IR) data from the TRMM Visible Infrared Scanner (VIRS). TRMM reveals an area of intense rain extending southward from the center (red areas). Also, the curvature in the rain field (visible by the arc-shaped pattern of the rain bands), shows that Mawar is already developing a well-defined circulation.

The next image shows Mawar just over a day later at 16:50 UTC on the 20th of August. An eye is clearly visible and is nearly surrounded by a ring of moderate intensity rain (green areas). Further banding is evident by the concentric bands of moderate instensity rain that extend farther out. At the time of this image, Mawar's maximum sustained winds were estimated to be 55 knots (63 mph) by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. The next day, the 21st, Mawar intensified rapidly from a Category 1 typhoon to a Category 4 typhoon. On the morning of the 22nd (local time), Mawar's maximum sustained winds were estimated at 130 knots (150 mph). The storm then began to move more northerly, towards Japan, and gradually lost strength. As it approached the central island of Japan, Mawar turned to a more northeasterly direction.

The final TRMM image shows Mawar just as it is starting to pass over the far eastern part of Honshu, south of Tokyo. The PR shows that Mawar is spreading very heavy rain rates, on the order of 2 inches-per-hour (darkest red areas), over parts of the coast. The system still has pronounced banding features. The eye is along the edge of the PR swath on the southwestern part of heavy rain area. At this time, Mawar had sustained winds estimated at 90 knots (104 mph).

OTHER IMAGES AND ANIMATIONS


August 25, 1033Z VERY LARGE [6.6 mb] Precipitation Radar slice QUICKTIME animation	August 19, 0935Z VERY LARGE [7.6 mb] Precipitation Radar slice QUICKTIME animation
LARGE [2.8 mb] Precipitation Radar slice QUICKTIME animation	LARGE [2.9 mb] Precipitation Radar slice QUICKTIME animation