The January 2013 Northwest Pacific cyclone was a powerful

extratropical cyclone Extratropical cyclones, sometimes called mid-latitude cyclones or wave cyclones, are low-pressure areas which, along with the anticyclones of high-pressure areas, drive the weather over much of the Earth. Extratropical cyclones are capable of ...

which caused heavy rainfall and a severe blizzard in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in January 2013. Forming northeast of Taiwan on January 13 and absorbing Tropical Depression Bising soon afterward, the storm quickly intensified in the southern sea off Japan on January 14, and reached its peak intensity east of Japan on January 15, with its central atmospheric pressure decreasing to . The system then weakened, crossed the Kamchatka Peninsula late on January 18, and dissipated east of Hokkaido on January 21.

Meteorological history

At 0000 UTC on January 13, an extratropical cyclone formed northeast of Taiwan, and the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) started to issue storm warnings on the developing low; 18 hours later, the storm southeast of

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surroun ...

absorbed Tropical Depression Bising which formed near the Philippines. Fed by the remnants of the tropical depression's huge amounts of heat and vapor, the storm quickly intensified and became a

hurricane-force The Beaufort scale is an empirical measure that relates wind speed to observed conditions at sea or on land. Its full name is the Beaufort wind force scale. History The scale was devised in 1805 by the Irish hydrographer Francis Beaufort ...

bomb cyclone A bomb is an explosive weapon that uses the exothermic reaction of an explosive material to provide an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. Detonations inflict damage principally through ground- and atmosphere-transmitted mechanica ...

when it passed over the sea south of

on January 14. Late the same day, the estimated 10-minute maximum sustained winds reached when the storm was east of the Tōhoku region. On January 15, the atmospheric pressure of the powerful extratropical cyclone far east of Hokkaido decreased to , which is equivalent to a very strong typhoon. Northwest Pacific bomb cyclone 2013-01-16

Northwest Pacific bomb cyclone 2013-01-16

At 0000 UTC on January 16, the extratropical cyclone started to weaken, and the storm was no longer producing sustained hurricane-force winds. A half of day later, the estimated 10-minute maximum sustained winds weakened to when the system was located southeast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, whilst the atmospheric pressure also decreased to . The storm turned westerly on January 17, and it became gale-force at 00Z on January 18. Late on January 18, the center crossed the southernmost point of the Kamchatka Peninsula and arrived at the

Sea of Okhotsk The Sea of Okhotsk ( rus, Охо́тское мо́ре, Ohótskoye móre ; ja, オホーツク海, Ohōtsuku-kai) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It is located between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands ...

, when the atmospheric pressure was . The low turned southwesterly then southerly, and it passed through the Kuril Islands on January 20. The system finally dissipated to the far east of Hokkaido on January 21.

Impact

Japan

The powerful extratropical cyclone which passed over the sea south of

caused heavy rainfall and snowfall in the country on January 14. In Tokyo, the blizzard dumped of snow in nine hours. It also left of snow in the neighboring city Yokohama and of snow in mountainous areas around Tokyo. About 1600 injuries were recorded in Japan. In Shiojiri, a 71-year-old man died after falling into an open drain as he cleared snow around his house. A large chunk of frozen snow fell from the Tokyo Skytree and crashed into the roof of a house below, leaving a hole. As January 14 was also Coming of Age Day in 2013, many young Japanese people who were celebrating their 20th year had to walk through heavy snowfall to attend Coming of Age Day ceremonies.

References

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External links

WIS Portal – GISC Tokyo
2013 Northwest Climate of Japan 2013 in Japan 2013 meteorology 2013 natural disasters Weather events in Asia Weather events in Oceania 2013 in Oceania 2013 in Asia

Meteorological history

Impact

Japan

See also

References

External links