Severe Tropical Storm Wukong was a slow-moving tropical cyclone which produced torrential rains over Japan. The tenth named storm of the 2006 Pacific typhoon season, Wukong developed out of a tropical depression over the open waters of the western

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

. On August 13, both the

Japan Meteorological Agency The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA; ''気象庁, Kishō-chō'') is a division of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism dedicated to the Scientific, scientific observation and research of natural phenomena. Headquartered ...

(JMA) and 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) classified the depression as a tropical storm. The storm traveled along a curving path south of Japan, absorbing the remnants of Tropical Storm Sonamu on August 15 before turning towards the west. Wukong made landfall at peak intensity late on August 17 near Miyazaki City in southern

Kyūshū is the third-largest island of Japan's four main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands (i.e. excluding Okinawa and the other Ryukyu (''Nansei'') Islands). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regio ...

. The cyclone remained over land for about 24 hours before moving out over the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it ...

. The storm weakened to a tropical depression before dissipating on August 21. Due to the slow movement of the storm, it produced heavy rains, peaking at 516 mm (20.3 in). Two people were killed due to rough seas produced by the storm and three others were injured.

Meteorological history

On August 12, the

(JMA) began monitoring a tropical depression located to the south of

Chichi-jima is the largest and most populous island in the Japanese archipelago of Bonin or Ogasawara Islands. Chichijima is about north of Iwo Jima. in size, the island is home to about 2,120 people (2021). Connected to the mainland only by a day-lon ...

island. The depression formed within a

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

al gyre which also spawned Tropical Storm Sonamu. The

(JTWC) classified the system as Tropical Depression 11W several hours after the JMA while the system was located about 140 km (85 mi) south of

Iwo Jima is one of the Japanese Volcano Islands, which lie south of the Bonin Islands and together with them make up the Ogasawara Subprefecture, Ogasawara Archipelago. Together with the Izu Islands, they make up Japan's Nanpō Islands. Although sout ...

. The depression gradually strengthened as it moved towards the northwest. Early on August 13, it was upgraded to a tropical storm and given the name ''Wukong''; a name which was contributed by

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. The names means "the king of the monkeys" and was featured in the novel ''Journey to the West''. The storm slowed significantly as a

ridge A ridge is a long, narrow, elevated geomorphologic landform, structural feature, or a combination of both separated from the surrounding terrain by steep sides. The sides of a ridge slope away from a narrow top, the crest or ridgecrest, wi ...

built eastward over Japan. On August 14, Wukong turned towards the northeast and reached its peak intensity with winds of 95 km/h (60 mph 10-minute winds) as a severe tropical storm. At the same time, the JTWC assessed Wukong to have reached its initial peak intensity with winds of 95 km/h (60 mph 1-minute winds). The next day, the storm began to accelerate due to an interaction with the nearby Tropical Storm Sonamu. Wukong absorbed the weakening Sonamu later in the day before turning towards the west. On August 16, the storm turned towards the northwest due to a weakness in the ridge near Japan. Wukong made landfall late on August 17 near Miyazaki City in southern

. As the storm made landfall, the JTWC assessed Wukong to have winds of 100 km/h (65 mph 1-minute winds). The cyclone slowly traveled across land, entering the

about 24 hours after landfall. Several hours after entering the Sea of Japan, the JMA downgraded Wukong to a tropical depression. The depression persisted for two more days before dissipating near the

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n coastline.

Preparations and impact

According to Japanese weather officials, heavy rain, flood, storm and high wave warnings were put into effect for all of Kyūshū and adjacent areas in

Honshū , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the seventh-largest island in the world, and the second-most populous after the Indonesian ...

. The two largest air carriers in Japan, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways, cancelled at least 36 domestic flights ahead of the storm. Several of the largest oil refineries halted oil product shipments from three refineries. Kyushu Railways postponed services on five lines, one of which crossed the entire prefecture. Long distance ferries were also shut down.

Iwakuni, Yamaguchi 270px, Kintai Bridge 270px, Iwakuni city center is a city located in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 127,512 in 65182 households and a population density of 157 persons per km2. The total area of the city ...

was placed under Tropical Cyclone Condition of Readiness 3 and

Sasebo, Nagasaki is a Core cities of Japan, core city located in Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan. It is the second-largest city in Nagasaki Prefecture, after its capital, Nagasaki. , the city had an estimated population of 230,873 in 102,670 households, and a populat ...

was placed under Tropical Cyclone Condition of Readiness Storm Watch. Wukong produced torrential rains over Japan, peaking at 516 mm (20.3 in) in Hinokage, Miyazaki Prefecture. Flooding in

and the

Yamaguchi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūgoku region of Honshu. Yamaguchi Prefecture has a population of 1,377,631 (1 February 2018) and has a geographic area of 6,112 Square kilometre, km2 (2,359 Square mile, sq mi). ...

caused the evacuation of about 300 households. At least 200 residences were left without power in Kyūshū. Two people were killed by rough seas produced by Wukong, and three others were injured in storm-related accidents. A total of seven landslides occurred, one of which damaged several homes. As the storm brushed the

Korean Peninsula Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically divided at or near the 38th parallel between North Korea (Dem ...

, it produced heavy rains, but caused no known damage.

Meteorological history

Preparations and impact

See also

References

External links