Typhoon Pabuk was a high-end
Category 2 typhoon that struck
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 August 2001. As the tenth named storm and the fifth typhoon of the
2001 Pacific typhoon season
The 2001 Pacific typhoon season was the fourth and final consecutive year with below-average activity, making it the lowest four-year period of activity since 1976–1979, due to the presence of a strong La Niña that had persisted from 1998–200 ...
, it originated from a tropical depression to the north-northwest of
Saipan
Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...
. It began to develop rapidly, so the
Joint Typhoon Warning Center issued a
Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert. The same agency began to issue advisories on the system; thereafter, the depression was designated ''14W''. Every agency upgraded the depression to a tropical storm, gaining the name ''Pabuk'' from the
Japan Meteorological Agency. Pabuk gradually intensified as it moved northwestward, getting upgraded to a typhoon by the JTWC on August 15, with the JMA following suit not too long after. By August 17, Pabuk briefly reached its initial peak strength as a low-end Category 2 typhoon before slowly weakening. The following day, Pabuk began to re-intensify. Pabuk also began to form an
eye
Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and conv ...
. By August 19, Pabuk reached its second peak intensity with 1-minute
sustained wind
The maximum sustained wind associated with a tropical cyclone is a common
indicator of the intensity of the storm. Within a mature tropical cyclone, it is found within the eyewall at a distance defined as the radius of maximum wind, or RMW. Unl ...
s of . Pabuk grew in size, and its eye became irregular, hinting on a weakening trend while moving north northeastward. Pabuk weakened to tropical storm intensity when it hit the southern coast of
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 ...
, south of
Osaka, on August 21. On August 22, both the JMA and the JTWC issued their final advisories after Pabuk became
extratropical.
The name Pabuk was submitted by
Laos
Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...
and refers to the
Mekong giant catfish
The Mekong giant catfish (''Pangasianodon gigas''; th, ปลาบึก, , ; km, ត្រីរាជ /''trəy riec''/; vi, cá tra dầu), is a large, threatened species of catfish (order Siluriformes) in the shark catfish family (Pang ...
. Pabuk brought heavy rain to
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 ...
and damaged fields. Pabuk caused 8 fatalities and caused $52 million (2001
USD) in damages.
Meteorological history
On August 13, the
Japan Meteorological Agency started to track a tropical depression that was embedded to the
monsoon to the north-northwest of
Saipan
Saipan ( ch, Sa’ipan, cal, Seipél, formerly in es, Saipán, and in ja, 彩帆島, Saipan-tō) is the largest island of the Northern Mariana Islands, a Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States in the western Pa ...
. Due to its rapid development, the
Joint Typhoon Warning Center issued a
Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert. The JTWC began issuing advisories; thereafter, giving the designation of ''14W''. All agencies upgraded 14W to a tropical storm the next day, after
satellite imagery
Satellite images (also Earth observation imagery, spaceborne photography, or simply satellite photo) are images of Earth collected by imaging satellites operated by governments and businesses around the world. Satellite imaging companies sell ima ...
depicted a well-defined
Low-level Circulation Center
The eye is a region of mostly calm weather at the center of tropical cyclones. The eye of a storm is a roughly circular area, typically in diameter. It is surrounded by the ''eyewall'', a ring of towering thunderstorms where the most severe weat ...
along with
gale-force winds to the south of it. The JMA gave the storm the name ''Pabuk''. Moving northwestward, Pabuk gradually intensified, and the JTWC upgraded the system to a typhoon on August 15; the JMA did the same 24 hours later. By August 17, Pabuk briefly reached its initial peak strength as a low-end Category 2 typhoon as it moved west-northwest before slowly weakening. During the next day, Pabuk began to re-intensify as a banding eye feature began to develop.
Satellite animated imagery showed an
eyewall forming with deep
convection. By 06:00 UTC of August 19, Pabuk reached its second peak intensity with 1-minute
sustained wind
The maximum sustained wind associated with a tropical cyclone is a common
indicator of the intensity of the storm. Within a mature tropical cyclone, it is found within the eyewall at a distance defined as the radius of maximum wind, or RMW. Unl ...
s of . The typhoon grew in size, and its
eye
Eyes are organs of the visual system. They provide living organisms with vision, the ability to receive and process visual detail, as well as enabling several photo response functions that are independent of vision. Eyes detect light and conv ...
became irregular, hinting on a weakening trend while moving north northeastward. Pabuk weakened to tropical storm intensity when it hit the southern coast of
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 ...
, south of
Osaka, on 12:00 UTC of August 21. On August 22, both the JMA and the JTWC issued its final advisory after it became
extratropical.
Preparations and impact
Pabuk brought heavy rainfall in the southern part of
Honshu, which flooded many homes and disrupting sea and air travel.
As the typhoon was approaching, the JMA warned on heavy winds and strong gusts along the southwestern and western coastline of Japan. Heavy rainfall was forecast throughout most of the nation to as far south as
Okinawa, with the
Kii Peninsula being forecast to have rainfall of about . Around 70 homes were flooded in the island of
Amami Ōshima alone. Moreover, the launch of the next-generation rocket
H-IIA was also halted due to stormy conditions. Throughout Japan, the storm resulted in eight fatalities and 141 injured people. 917 hectares of fields were damaged. Multiple types of transportation were cancelled.
Total damages from the typhoon amounted to
¥6.3 billion (US$ million).
See also
*
Other tropical cyclones named Pabuk
*
Typhoon Lorna (1954) – a strong Category 3 typhoon that severely impacted some areas of
Honshu Island
, historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island sep ...
, especially
Yokohama and
Tokyo while also causing damages across the
Northern Mariana Islands.
*
Tropical Storm Louise (1967) – took a comparable trajectory.
*
Typhoon Melor (2009)
Typhoon Melor, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Quedan, was the second category 5 super typhoon in 2009. It interacted with Typhoon Parma in the first week of October southeast of Taiwan.
Meteorological history
On September 28, an area ...
– took a nearly identical track.
*
Typhoon Phanfone (2014)
Typhoon Phanfone, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Neneng, was a powerful tropical cyclone which affected Japan in early October 2014. It was the eighteenth named storm and the eighth typhoon of the 2014 Pacific typhoon season.
Meteorol ...
– a powerful
tropical cyclone which affected
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 early October 2014.
*
Typhoon Vongfong (2014) – the most intense
tropical cyclone worldwide in 2014 and struck
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 ...
as a large tropical system.
Notes
References
External links
Digital Typhoon: Typhoon 200111 (PABUK) - General Information (Pressure and Track Charts) (nii.ac.jp){{2001 Pacific typhoon season buttons
Typhoons in Japan
Pabuk