Typhoon Yagi was an intense typhoon, the strongest of the

2006 Pacific typhoon season The 2006 Pacific typhoon season was a below-average season that produced a total of 23 named storms, 15 typhoons, and six super typhoons. The season ran throughout 2006, though most tropical cyclones typically develop between May and October. The ...

, which reached the equivalence of Category 5 on the

Saffir–Simpson scale The Saffir–Simpson hurricane wind scale (SSHWS) classifies hurricanes—which in the Western Hemisphere are tropical cyclones that exceed the intensities of tropical depressions and tropical storms—into five categories distinguished by ...

. Forming out of a tropical depression on September 16, Yagi quickly strengthened as it executed a slow clockwise loop over the open waters of the western Pacific Ocean. On September 19, Yagi strengthened into a typhoon as a

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Geographical z ...

ridge A ridge or a mountain ridge is a geographical feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for an extended distance. The sides of the ridge slope away from the narrow top on either side. The line ...

steered the storm towards the west. Two days later, the storm reached its peak intensity with winds of 10-minute winds with a minimum pressure of 910

hPa HPA may refer to: Organizations * Harry Potter Alliance, a charity * Halifax Port Authority, Canada * Hamburg Port Authority, Germany * Hawaii Preparatory Academy, a school in Hawaii, US * Health Protection Agency, UK * Heerespersonalamt, the Ger ...

(

mbar The bar is a metric unit of pressure, but not part of the International System of Units (SI). It is defined as exactly equal to 100,000 Pa (100 kPa), or slightly less than the current average atmospheric pressure on Earth at sea leve ...

). The typhoon gradually weakened as it recurved towards the northeast and was downgraded to a severe tropical storm on September 24 and became

extratropical 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 p ...

the next day. The storm was last noted near the

Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands (; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin,”Land of the Aleuts", possibly from Chukchi language, Chukchi ''aliat'', "island"), also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a cha ...

on September 27. The typhoon caused severe damage on the island of

Chichijima , native_name_link = , image_caption = Map of Chichijima, Anijima and Otoutojima , image_size = , pushpin_map = Japan complete , pushpin_label = Chichijima , pushpin_label_position = , pushpin_map_alt = , ...

but no injuries were reported as a result of the storm. Yagi is also tied with Glenda which became the most intense tropical cyclone in worldwide in 2006.

Meteorological history

On September 16, the

Japan Meteorological Agency The , abbreviated JMA, is an agency of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism. It is charged with gathering and providing results for the public in Japan that are obtained from data based on daily scientific observation an ...

(JMA) began monitoring an area of

convection Convection is single or multiphase fluid flow that occurs spontaneously due to the combined effects of material property heterogeneity and body forces on a fluid, most commonly density and gravity (see buoyancy). When the cause of the convec ...

as a tropical depression about east-northeast of

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

. The depression was located within an area of low to moderate

wind shear Wind shear (or windshear), sometimes referred to as wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and/or direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Atmospheric wind shear is normally described as either vertical or horizontal ...

under an upper-level

anticyclone An anticyclone is a weather phenomenon defined as a large-scale circulation of winds around a central region of high atmospheric pressure, clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from abov ...

. Flaring convection was noted along the eastern portion of the developing system before the

Joint Typhoon Warning Center The Joint typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) is a joint United States Navy – United States Air Force command in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The JTWC is responsible for the issuing of tropical cyclone warnings in the North-West Pacific Ocean, South P ...

(JTWC) issued a

Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert A Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert (TCFA) is a bulletin released by the U.S. Navy-operated Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Honolulu, Hawaii or the Fleet Weather Center in Norfolk, Virginia, warning of the possibility of a tropical cyclone forming ...

later that day. Early on September 17, the JTWC began issuing advisories on Tropical Depression 16W. Located within a weak steering environment, the storm executed a clockwise loop while quickly strengthening. Several hours after the JTWC issued their first advisory, the JMA upgraded the system to a tropical storm and gave it the name ''Yagi''; the name was contributed by Japan, and is the Japanese word for "goat". Late on September 18, the JMA upgraded Yagi to a severe tropical storm while the JTWC classified the storm as a minimal typhoon. Early on September 19, the JMA upgraded Yagi to a typhoon. After completing the loop, Yagi's track was influenced by a

located to the southeast of Japan. The typhoon continued to intensify and reached its peak intensity on September 21 with winds of 10-minute winds) with a minimum pressure of 910

(

), making it the strongest storm of the season according to the JMA. At the same time, the JTWC classified Yagi as a Category 5 super typhoon with winds of 1-minute winds). On September 22, Yagi passed by the islands of

Iwo Jima Iwo Jima (, also ), known in Japan as , is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands and lies south of the Bonin Islands. Together with other islands, they form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The highest point of Iwo Jima is Mount Suribachi at high. ...

and

as the storm recurved towards the northeast. With increasing wind shear, the typhoon began to weaken and also began to undergo an

extratropical transition 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 p ...

. Late on September 24, the JTWC classified the storm as an extratropical cyclone and issued their final advisory. The JMA kept Yagi as a tropical system for another day as it weakened to a severe tropical storm. Early on September 25, they classified it as extratropical. The remnants of Yagi continued towards the northeast and crossed the

International Date Line The International Date Line (IDL) is an internationally accepted demarcation on the surface of Earth, running between the South and North Poles and serving as the boundary between one calendar day and the next. It passes through the Pacific O ...

on September 27. The storm was last noted near the

Preparations and impact

On September 23, Typhoon Yagi passed directly over the resort island of

which has a population of about 2,000. The cyclone brought winds up to , making it the strongest typhoon in 20 years to hit the island. About 1,000 of the 1,270 homes were without power during the height of the storm. About 150 residents evacuated to local shelters during the storm to escape the high winds and heavy rains. At least one structure was destroyed and numerous others sustained damage. The storm reportedly produced torrential rains, but there are no known measurements. Several homes had their roofs blown off and windows broken. Street lamps were knocked down by the strong winds produced by Yagi. Ferry service for several ports was cancelled for 29 days following the typhoon. Fallen trees knocked down power lines and cut communications. Some homes were reported to have lost water pressure also. The storm passed close to

on September 22, with the island being within the range of winds. No loss of life or injuries were related to Typhoon Yagi.

Meteorological history

Preparations and impact

See also

References

External links