Rare Japanese tornado kills 1, injures 48
A rare strong tornado ripped through Ibaraki Prefecture in eastern Japan 30 miles northeast of Tokyo on Sunday, killing a teenage boy, injuring 48 people, and damaging or destroying 890 buildings. The tornado carved a path of destruction 15 km long and 500 meters wide, said the Japan Meteorological Agency. The tornado was given a preliminary rating of F-2, with winds of 113 - 157 mph (Japan uses the traditional "F" scale to rate tornadoes, not the "EF" scale used in the U.S.) The tornado also damaged homes in a housing complex in Tsukuba where 20 people from seven families from Fukushima Prefecture had evacuated following the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, caused by the earthquake and tsunami of March 2011. I bet those families are feeling disaster-prone!
Video 1. A rare tornado in Japan hits approximately 30 miles northeast of Tokyo on May 6, 2012.
Japan's tornado climatology
Tornadoes are rare in Japan, due to the fact the nation is surrounded by ocean, which tends to stabilize the air. Between 1961 - 2010, an average of 15 tornadoes per year hit Japan, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency. Only four F-3 tornadoes have hit Japan. The most recent F-3 hit on November 7, 2006, in the Wakasa area of Saroma, Hokkaido. Nine people died and 26 were injured. Over 30 buildings, including a dwelling, warehouses and temporary structures were damaged or destroyed. No violent F-4 or F-5 tornadoes have been recorded in Japan, according the Japan Meteorological Agency, though other sources list a December, 1990 tornado as having been an F-4. Wunderground's weather historian Christopher C. Burt has more details in his latest post, Deadliest Tornadoes. Only one F-2 tornado hit Japan in both 2010 and 2011. A 1997 study published in the Journal of Climate found that Japanese tornadoes occurred most frequently in September and least frequently in March, and that typhoons were responsible for about 20% of all the tornadoes. A list of Asian tornado outbreaks maintained at Wikipedia lists the deadliest Japanese tornado as one on 6 September, 1881, which killed 16 people.
Figure 1. Distribution of tornadoes in Japan, 1961 - 2010. Image credit: Japan Meteorological Agency.
Jeff Masters
Reader Comments
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They probably got them from Grothar in the first place. How old is this guy
Thanks!
Hey, Largo. I hope you got my message. I am sorry you misunderstood my blog the other day. I meant it as a shot to me, not you. Again, I apologize for the misunderstanding.
Yeah, the ITCZ will be moving to the north in a month or so and that will increase the rainfall activity in Trinidad. Jamaica's rainy season normally starts some where in mid May and ends around mid to late October...we get most of our rain from Tropical waves, tropical storms and monsoonal systems
I'm not sure myself.
No one knows for sure how old Grothar is. You will find notations of his presence throughout the written language and even on some cave drawings. Before that? No one really knows.
Regardless of his age, Grothar is quite wise, and rarely becomes involved in the petty bickering that frequents the ranks of the internet's denziens.
Big pail
Thanks Bielle
Very true. Wisdom comes with age and Grothar is quite wise, even for his age.
He makes a good waffle too.....
2011's first tropical wave: May 17.
That's good to know...i hope that upward trend continues
Thanks, jeff. (But I watch, though)
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JUAN PR
416 PM AST MON MAY 7 2012
.SYNOPSIS...AT UPPER LEVELS...A FAST MOVING SHORT WAVE TROUGH HAS MOVED
PAST PUERTO RICO TOWARD THE EAST AND ITS PASSAGE WILL ALLOW THE
CORE OF THE JET OVER THE AREA TO MOVE JUST TO THE NORTH TUESDAY
THROUGH THURSDAY MORNING. ON THURSDAY A SECOND WEAK TROUGH WILL
MOVE INTO THE AREA AND A THIRD WILL PASS THROUGH ON SUNDAY
FOLLOWED BY NORTHWESTERLY FLOW.
AT MID LEVELS...A WEAK TROUGH WILL FLATTEN OUT DURING THE NEXT 12
HOURS...WHILE A SECOND DIGS INTO THE WESTERN CARIBBEAN AND MOVES
TOWARD THE AREA DURING THE WEEK. HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS IN OVER THE
CARIBBEAN ON FRIDAY AND CONTINUES THROUGH THE WEEKEND.
AT LOWER LEVELS...A BROAD AND WEAK TROUGH IS BRINGING CONSIDERABLE
MOISTURE CONVERGENCE OVER THE LESSER ANTILLES THAT WILL SLOWLY
DRIFT BACK OVER THE FORECAST AREA AS IT WEAKENS TUESDAY THROUGH
THURSDAY. A WIND SURGE WILL ARRIVE FRIDAY NIGHT WITH AN AREA OF
MUCH DRIER AIR BETWEEN 850 AND 700 MB AND CAUSE SHOWER ACTIVITY
OVER THE AREA IN GENERAL TO DECREASE OVER THE WEEKEND.
&&
.DISCUSSION...AS MORNING SHOWERS OVER THE NORTHEAST SLOPES OF
PUERTO RICO DISSIPATED...SHOWERS OVER THE CORDILLERA CENTRAL
FORMED ALONG THE ENTIRE LENGTH OF THE ISLANDS. SHOWERS ALSO FORMED
AROUND SAINT CROIX AND NORTH OF SAINT THOMAS AND SAINT JOHN DURING
THE MIDDAY HOURS. SHOWERS WERE ALSO SEEN LINGERING OVER AND BEYOND
THE SOUTHEAST CORNER OF THE FORECAST AREA IN THE STATIONARY BAND
OF CONVERGENCE THAT STRETCHES FROM SOUTH AMERICA ACROSS THE
SOUTHEASTERN CARIBBEAN AND THE LESSER ANTILLES.
HIGH PRESSURE OFF OF CAPE COD WILL BEGIN PUSHING THE LARGE AREA
OF LOW PRESSURE OVER MOST OF THE NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL
ATLANTIC TO THE EAST AND TURN WIND FLOW OVER US TO THE SOUTHEAST.
BY MID WEEK THE HIGH WILL NOSE TOWARD THE AREA ALONG 60 WEST. BUT
AS IT CONTINUES EAST FLOW OVER THE WESTERN ATLANTIC WILL AGAIN
BECOME STRONGLY SOUTHERLY. THIS AND THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH PASSAGE
WILL CAUSE THE BAND TO WEAKEN AND GRADUALLY MOVE NORTHWEST BACK
OVER AND NORTHWEST OF THE AREA TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY INCREASING
MOISTURE THAT WILL CONTINUE OVER THE AREA THURSDAY AND FRIDAY.
ON FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY DRIER AIR ARRIVES WITH A WIND SURGE
FROM THE SOUTHEAST CARRYING SOME AFRICAN DUST. AT THIS TIME THE
DAILY CYCLE OF SHOWERS WILL BE LIMITED BY LOWER MOISTURE CONTENT.
SURFACE AND LOWER LEVEL WINDS WILL SHIFT TO THE EAST ON SUNDAY AND
BANDS OF MOISTURE WILL PASS THROUGH THE AREA ON FLOW CREATED BY
HIGH PRESSURE THAT FINALLY IS ABLE TO REGAIN CONTROL OF THE
ATLANTIC.
IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THE NAM AND THE GFS DIVERGE CONSIDERABLY
BETWEEN NOW AND 84 HOURS WITH THE NAM TAKING PRECIPITABLE WATER
BELOW 1.6 INCHES AND THE GFS TAKING IT ABOVE 2 INCHES BY THURSDAY
AFTERNOON. THE ECMWF AND THE GENERAL PATTERN SEEM TO INDICATE THAT
THE NAM IS THE OUTLIER AND HENCE HAVE IGNORED ITS DRYING TREND.
NEVERTHELESS SHOWERS WILL BE LIMITED SOMEWHAT TOMORROW UNTIL
MOISTURE FROM THE CONVERGENCE BAND TO THE SOUTHEAST CAN RETURN.
&&
.AVIATION...
VFR CONDS ARE EXPECTED AT ALL TAFS SITES THROUGH THE FORECAST
PERIOD. SOME SHRA/TSRA WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT PARTS OF THE
CORDILLERA CENTRAL THROUGH EARLY THIS EVENING. AS A RESULT...
MOUNTAIN OBSCURATIONS ARE POSSIBLE WITH THE SHRA/TSRA. LLVL WINDS
WILL CONTINUE FOR THE NORTHEAST AT AROUND 10 KTS...VEERING TO THE
EAST AFTER 08/06Z.
&&
.MARINE...GENTLE TO MODERATE WINDS WILL GRADUALLY INCREASE DURING
THE NEXT 7 DAYS...BUT SEAS WILL REMAIN BELOW 7 FEET DURING THE
PERIOD. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD BE EXPECTED MAINLY
WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY AS MOISTURE RETURNS TO THE AREA.
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
SJU 75 85 75 86 / 30 30 40 40
STT 75 84 76 86 / 30 30 40 30
I thought I scared you off, Glad you're back.
Destined for widespread rains in TX
TODAY
Hey all! So... uhh... What happened to the Bermuda-Azores High?
It has been carved in twain!
Hmmmmmm. It looks like it is vacationing just north of the Carolinas. ... Hey, presslord. Look out your north window and see if you can spot it. ;-)
I do not know. Was there not mention a few weeks ago that this should be setting up soon, if not already in place? This looks a bit unusual, to me.
as I heard an old Gullah story teller once say....Grothar has been here since "before the rocks were hard..."
It's sometimes replaced by intense areas of low pressure. If the timing is right, it can prove destructive to the USA East Coast by providing a path similar to the one that the 1938 New England hurricane took.
Nothing terribly unusual.
12z
Possible tropical development but I'm not putting much faith ;)
I certainly hope that's where it goes ....and then sits there for a bit ...needed badly
Good for Texas
No, he isn't. I asked him myself.
Pssst...
There are liars in this world.
I actually did talk to SPL though and I was one of the people that he didn't dislike... And he told me he wouldn't comment here again so...
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