Sludge Report #103 – A Perfect Storm For Kyoto

Tuesday, 21 August 2001, 10:17 am
Column: C.D. Sludge

In This Edition: A Perfect Storm For Kyoto

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Sludge Report #103

A Perfect Storm For Kyoto

Typhoon Pabuk carrying with it 140knot (260kmh!) winds and torrential rains is scheduled to make landfall in Japan today at Kyoto, the Japanese city whose name has become a household name thanks to its association with the controversial climate change treaty.

Since Friday, as regular Scoop readers will have noted, a close eye has been kept on typhoon Pabuk.

In the interests of continuing weather reports in the “Why Does It Always Rain On George?” vein, C.D. Sludge had hoped that shown in Pabuk, was another example of what might be most accurately described as, “weather with intention”.

Certainly in Pabuk, named in Laotian for a big fish, we have a typhoon that had every appearance of having a mission.

Pabuk has headed north to Japan with a level of determination that has defied forecasters predictions who had it pegged to reel east to the South of Japan.

Initially members of Scoop team thought Pabuk was Tokyo bound.

Earlier Scoop Reports:
YESTERDAY:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0108/S00117.htm Weather: Destination Tokyo For Typhoon Pabuk
FRIDAY: http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/stories/HL0108/S00104.htm
Supercomputer Weather: Pabuk Heading Towards Tokyo

But now, thanks to the US Navy, whose typhoon tracking map appears below, we can reveal just what Pabuk’s real mission appears to be, namely, expressing as succinctly as possible to the Japanese people – and perhaps the people of the world – that the weather has Kyoto on its mind.

http://img.scoop.co.nz/stories/images/0108/cccb673aefbc031b71a1.jpeg

The above map produced late yesterday NZT by the US Navy (Click on the map for a larger version.) shows the projected path of Cyclone Pabuk over the Japanese mainland.

As can be seen, the point at which the typhoon makes landfall is adjacent to the city of Kyoto.

According to the chart on the right the typhoon’s winds will reach a peak at this point, with winds of 115kts and gusts of up to 140kts (260kmh!).

http://img.scoop.co.nz/stories/images/0108/c500da49d8fe6d9840ad.jpeg

Meanwhile the above picture shows the scale of this storm which looks far from dissimilar in its satellite imagery to the imaginary storm depicted in the recent hit movie The Perfect Storm. Pabuk is symmetrical and huge, close to 1000kms in diameter.

The above picture is notable for another reason too.

Supercomputer analysis of the storm tells is that the highest winds in the Pabuk are occurring in the area at the bottom and to the left of the storm.

As can be seen, this area is not cloud covered and so the sun is reaching the sea, warming it and condensing water.

In effect what we have here is a giant wind funnel picking up moisture off the sea and throwing it at enormous speed directly towards the Japanese mainland and its mountains, where it will be forced aloft and will release its contents.

In the circumstances it would now seem highly likely that the level of damage to be wrecked by Pabuk will be unprecedented in recent Japanese history.

And so, maybe this is a storm worth listening too.

Anti©opyright Sludge 2001

© Scoop Media

Alastair Thompson

Scoop Publisher

Alastair Thompson is the co-founder of Scoop. He is of Scottish and Irish extraction and from Wellington, New Zealand. Alastair has 24 years experience in the media, at the Dominion, National Business Review, North & South magazine, Straight Furrow newspaper and online since 1997. He is the winner of several journalism awards for business and investigative work.

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