Typhoon Sanba, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Karen, was the strongest

tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

worldwide in 2012. The sixteenth

named storm Tropical cyclones and subtropical cyclones are named by various warning centers to simplify communication between forecasters and the general public regarding forecasts, watches and warnings. The names are intended to reduce confusion in the ...

and tenth

typhoon A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...

of the annual typhoon season, Sanba formed as a tropical depression east of the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

on September 10. The storm gradually intensified as it moved generally northward in an area favorable for tropical development. The system was soon upgraded to a tropical storm less than a day after formation and subsequently further to a typhoon on September 12. Later that day, Sanba entered a phase of

explosive intensification In meteorology, rapid intensification is a situation where a tropical cyclone intensifies dramatically in a short period of time. The United States National Hurricane Center defines rapid intensification as an increase in the maximum sustained ...

, quickly strengthening and gaining annular characteristics. On September 13, the system attained its peak intensity with

maximum sustained winds 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 ...

of 125 mph (205 km/h), and a

barometric pressure Atmospheric pressure, also known as barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as , which is equivalent to 1013.25 millibars, 7 ...

of 900

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 ...

(

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; 26.58

inHg Inch of mercury (inHg and ″Hg) is a non- SI unit of measurement for pressure. It is used for barometric pressure in weather reports, refrigeration and aviation in the United States. It is the pressure exerted by a column of mercury in heigh ...

), becoming the strongest typhoon in the

Western Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

since Megi in

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. Accelerating towards more northerly

latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pol ...

s, a period of gradual weakening ensued afterwards as its eye expanded. It made landfall on

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

late on September 17 as a typhoon before transitioning into an

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 ...

the following day. Sanba's remnants tracked into the

Primorsky Krai Primorsky Krai (russian: Приморский край, r=Primorsky kray, p=prʲɪˈmorskʲɪj kraj), informally known as Primorye (, ), is a federal subject (a krai) of Russia, located in the Far East region of the country and is a part of the ...

region of eastern

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before they were last noted on September 19. Passing just to the west 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 ...

, Sanba caused extensive losses to agriculture, forestry, and fishing industries on the islands of

Okinawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city o ...

. Further inland on Kōchi and

Gifu Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Gifu Prefecture has a population of 1,991,390 () and has a geographic area of . Gifu Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the north; Ishikawa Prefecture to the northwest, F ...

s, heavy rains damaged agricultural regions and washed out numerous roads. Losses on both

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totalled to ¥2.5 billion (

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31.8 million). Upon its landfall on the

Korean Peninsula Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

on September 17, it became the first time in 50 years that the peninsula had been struck by at least four typhoons in a single year. In South Korea, torrential rainfall also washed out road systems and inundated crop land, as well as damaged infrastructure. Losses there associated with Sanba totaled to

₩ The won sign , is a currency symbol. It represents the South Korean won, the North Korean won and, unofficially, the old Korean won. Appearance Its appearance is "W" (the first letter of "Won") with a horizontal strike going through the cent ...

365.7 billion (US$328 million). In North Korea, the heavy precipitation worsened preexisting flood conditions initially started by Tropical Storm Khanun two months prior. In all, the typhoon killed six people and caused US$361 million in losses.

Meteorological history

A low-pressure area formed east of

Palau Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the Caro ...

on September 9 and gradually drifted westward. Early on September 10, 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) upgraded it to a tropical depression, 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 ...

on the system later that day and also upgraded it to a tropical depression late on the same day, as Sanba started to become more organized, with the banding of thunderstorms strengthened, and wrapped more tightly into the low level circulation center . As the system entered the

Philippine Area of Responsibility The Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) is an area in the Northwestern Pacific where PAGASA, the Philippines' national meteorological agency, monitors weather occurrences. Significant weather disturbances, specifically tropical cyclones tha ...

early on September 11, the

Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration Pagasa may refer to: * ''Pagasa'' (genus), an insect genus in the family Nabidae * PAGASA, an acronym for the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration *"May Pagasa", a pen-name of José Rizal José Prot ...

(PAGASA) started to advisories on the system and named it ''Karen''. At the same time, the JMA upgraded the system to a tropical storm and named it ''Sanba'', and the JTWC also upgraded it to a tropical storm later. Sanba 2012-09-16

On September 17, at 01:00 (UTC) Sanba made landfall over Korea.

Impact

Japan

Kōchi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located on the island of Shikoku. Kōchi Prefecture has a population of 757,914 (1 December 2011) and has a geographic area of 7,103 km2 (2,742 sq mi). Kōchi Prefecture borders Ehime Prefecture to the northwest and ...

, of agricultural land was damaged by the storm, with losses reaching ¥50 million (US$640,000). Throughout Okinawa, damage to agriculture, forestry, and fisheries amounted to ¥947 million (US$12.1 million). Heavy rains from the storm in

triggered numerous landslides and caused significant flooding that washed out hundreds of roads. Losses in the prefecture reached ¥1.5 billion (US$19.1 million).

South Korea

Across South Korea, heavy rains from the storm washed out numerous roads and flooded cropland. Numerous structures along rivers were damaged or destroyed by flooding. Across the nation, four people were killed and the damage from the typhoon reached

365.7 billion (US$328 million).

Russia

The extratropical remnants of Sanba brought flooding to

. In

Artyom Artyom (russian: Артём) is a male given name common in Russia and other Slavic-speaking countries. The name uses the " ё" letter, which can be transcribed to English as "e" but still has the "yo" sound. The Belarusian spelling is Арцё� ...

, more than of crops were inundated. Preliminary losses over the region were estimated to be

₽ The ruble sign, , is the currency sign used for the Russian ruble, the official currency of Russia. Its form is a Cyrillic letter Р with an additional horizontal stroke. The design was approved on 11 December 2013 after a public poll that took ...

40 million (US$1.29 million).

Notes

References

Sanba is a percussion musical instrument from the Okinawa Islands. The name itself means "three slabs" or "three boards/planks," and it consists of three shards of ebony or other woods that are bound together by twine.