South Pacific Faces Intense Cyclone Season While Northwards Tokyo Faces Typhoon
Pastor Dale Morgan
South Pacific Faces Intense Cyclone Season While Northwards Tokyo Faces
Typhoon*
Wellington (AFP) Sep 22, 2006
South Pacific island nations, particularly Fiji and Tonga, face a rough
cyclone season in the coming months, a senior New Zealand climate
scientist warned Thursday. Jim Salinger, of New Zealand's National
Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa), said weak to
moderate El Nino conditions were likely to increase the chances of
tropical cyclone activity.
"We are likely to see above average numbers of tropical cyclones in
several parts of the South Pacific," he said.
Island nations to the east of the dateline, including Fiji, Tonga,
Wallis and Futuna, Niue, and the southern Cook Islands were identified
as those likely to be most seriously affected. "There is a good chance
that the first tropical cyclone of the coming season in the South
Pacific region may occur before the end of November, about a month
earlier than is normal," he said.
Salinger said about 10 tropical cyclones can be expected on average in
the Southwest Pacific during a weak El Nino season, with about half
reaching hurricane force with mean wind speeds at least 118 kilometres
an hour (73 mile per hour).
Last year saw cyclones Larry and Monica wreak havoc in Queensland and
the Northern Territory of Australia.
Strong typhoon en route to hit Tokyo
Tokyo (AFP) Sep 22 - Another strong typhoon, packing winds of 170
kilometers (105 miles) an hour, was headed Thursday toward Tokyo and
could hit the capital over the weekend, the Japan Meteorological Agency
said.
Typhoon Yagi was on track Friday to become a "super-typhoon" with gusts
of 285 kilometers (176 miles) an hour and 12-meter (39-foot) waves at
its eye, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center run by Japan and
the US Navy.
Yagi, which means goat in Japanese, is the 14th typhoon of the season.
It was moving at 30 kilometers an hour in the Pacific Ocean. Late
Thursday, it was near the tiny Hahajima and Chichijima islands 1,000
kilometers southwest of Tokyo, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.
The typhoon was on route to hit Tokyo on Sunday, the agency said.
Japan last weekend was struck by Typhoon Shanshan which killed nine
people, injured 300 others and forced the evacuation of 100,000 people.
Source: Agence France-Presse