Typhoon Nabi - Meteorological History

Meteorological History

During late August, an area of convection persisted about 560 nautical miles (1,035 km) east of Guam. Satellite imagery indicated a large area of showers and thunderstorms with developing outflow and a low-level circulation had formed beneath the convection. At 0000 UTC on August 29 the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) classified the low as a tropical depression while located about 475 nmi (885 km) east-southeast of Saipan. The depression was within an area of moderate vertical wind shear which hindered outflow to the north. Roughly six hours later, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) classified the system as Tropical Depression 14W. Almost two days later, the depression was upgraded to Tropical Storm Nabi, by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), a name meaning butterfly. Nabi strengthened further to become a typhoon the next day, and it passed by the islands of Guam and Saipan on August 31.

Guam experienced gale-force wind speeds, and up to 75 mm (3.0 in) of rain. In addition, Saipan experienced wind gusts up to 120 km/h (75 mph). Steadily strengthening, Nabi reached Category 5 intensity on September 1, after passing near the Marianas Islands, where President Bush issued a major disaster declaration. Federal funding was also available for the islands of Rota, Tinian, and Saipan, but only on a cost sharing basis. As the storm began turning to the north, it entered the Philippine area of responsibility on September 3, where it earned the name Jolina. Weakening slightly, typhoon Nabi (Jolina) passed to the east of Okinawa, Japan, and on September 6, it made landfall on the Kagoshima Prefecture of Japan, as a Category 2 storm. It weakened to a Category 1 system shortly after landfall, and dissipated shortly thereafter, while located between Russia and Alaska. In Japan, 21 deaths were caused by the storm.

Two days after the dissipation of the system, five people were reported missing in South Korea, and fifty were reported in Japan. In addition, Japan also reported 143 injured people. The storm completely destroyed approximately 10,000 homes, and 31 of 47 prefectures reported damage. Slightly under 100 roads were damaged, and nearly 170 mudslides occurred. The heaviest damage from the storm took place in Miyazaki prefecture on the island of Kyushu. No deaths were reported in the Marianas islands, where the storm passed under Category 5 strength.