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In the first half of August 2023, a strong tropical cyclone formed over Philippine Sea maturing into Typhoon LAN, making landfall on the main island of Japan as a category 1 hurricane-equivalent bringing heavy rain and strong winds to Japan, leading to river flooding and mudslides.
The tropical disturbance maturing into Typhoon LAN formed on August 05, 2023, over the Philippine Sea. The system lingered for a few days over the open waters of the Philippine Sea before diverting to a northwesterly trajectory, quickly gaining strength. By August 10, 2023, the system reached typhoon strength and within the next two days the tropical cyclone intensified rapidly. At peak intensity the Typhoon LAN had sustained winds of up to 215 kph and gusts of up to 260 kph, with the central pressure of the cyclone dropping to 936 hPa.
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500 hPa Geopotential and sea surface pressure over Asia 09.08.2023 00 UTC - 16.08.2023 00 UTC, source:
wetter3
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On its northwesterly trajectory, the cyclone slowly approached the main island of Japan. Due colder ocean waters, Typhoon LAN quickly weakened before making landfall on the main island of Japan. Nevertheless, the typhoon retained typhoon-strength before making landfall on August 15, 2023, south of the metropolitan area of Osaka. Upon landfall, LAN brought heavy rains to the central part of the main island of Japan. In the rugged terrain of Central Japan, 24 h-precipitation totals as high as 585 mm were observed during the passage of Typhoon LAN. As a result, many rivers rose to flooding stages and plenty of mudslide were reported. Further, the typhoon led to some severe weather across the central part of Japan, leading only to minor damages.
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Track and intensity of Typhoon LAN, source:
NASA
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While traversing the main island of Japan, Typhoon LAN weakened to a tropical cyclone and curved eastwards over the Sea of Japan, hitting the Korean Peninsula and bringing heavy rains there in the process. Weakened further, the tropical disturbances slowly integrated into the main westerly current before losing tropical disturbance status south of the Kamchatka Peninsula.
Text: KG
August 19, 2023
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