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Typhoon Abby, known as Typhoon Norming in the
Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
, was the second
typhoon A typhoon is a tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere and which produces sustained hurricane-force winds of at least . This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, accounting for a ...
to affect
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
in a month during September 1986. A tropical depression developed on September 13 and the next day attained tropical storm status, upon which it was named Abby. Continuing to intensify, Abby moved west-northwest and became a typhoon on September 16. Two days later, the typhoon attained maximum intensity. On September 19, the typhoon made
landfall Landfall is the event of a storm moving over land after being over water. More broadly, and in relation to human travel, it refers to 'the first land that is reached or seen at the end of a journey across the sea or through the air, or the fact ...
in Taiwan as it turned towards the northwest. Rapid weakening occurred due to land interaction, and on September 20, Typhoon Abby transitioned into an
extratropical cyclone Extratropical cyclones, sometimes called mid-latitude cyclones or wave cyclones, are low-pressure areas which, along with the anticyclones of high-pressure areas, drive the weather over much of the Earth. Extratropical cyclones are capable of p ...
. Its extratropical remnants were last noted on September 24 as they raced off to the northeast. The typhoon claimed 13 lives in Taiwan. Around 2 million people lost power due to the storm while greater than 20 houses were destroyed. Over of crops were damaged. Monetary damage totaled $81 million. In addition to effects on Taiwan, the extratropical remnants later brought heavy rains to
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
.


Meteorological history

During late August and early September 1986, the Western Pacific
monsoon trough The monsoon trough is a convergence zone between the wind patterns of the southern and northern hemispheres. It is a portion of the Intertropical Convergence Zone in the Western Pacific,Bin WangThe Asian Monsoon.Retrieved 2008-05-03. and is dep ...
became displaced to the east. Lower than normal pressures favored the building of
convection Convection is single or Multiphase flow, multiphase fluid flow that occurs Spontaneous process, spontaneously through the combined effects of material property heterogeneity and body forces on a fluid, most commonly density and gravity (see buoy ...
over the trough. By the evening of September 9, a pronounced area of disturbed weather developed southwest of the Truk Atoll. Aided by low
wind shear Wind shear (; also written windshear), sometimes referred to as wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and/or direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Atmospheric wind shear is normally described as either vertical ...
, the disturbance developed slowly, even though the
Hurricane Hunter Hurricane hunters, typhoon hunters, or cyclone hunters are aircrews that fly into tropical cyclones to gather weather data. In the United States, the organizations that fly these missions are the United States Air Force Reserve's 53rd Weather ...
s initially failed to find a well-defined center. The disturbance drifted towards the northwest, and early on September 12, 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) started monitoring the system. Based on ship reports, 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 system as a tropical depression at 06:00 UTC on September 13. Both the JMA and JTWC upgraded the depression into Tropical Storm Abby at 00:00 UTC on September 14. On September 14, Abby, while moving west-northwest, began to develop a
central dense overcast The central dense overcast, or CDO, of a tropical cyclone or strong subtropical cyclone is the large central area of thunderstorms surrounding its circulation center, caused by the formation of its eyewall. It can be round, angular, oval, or ir ...
and thus began to intensify. On the morning of September 15, the JMA upgraded the system into a severe tropical storm. Despite reports from
Hurricane Hunter Hurricane hunters, typhoon hunters, or cyclone hunters are aircrews that fly into tropical cyclones to gather weather data. In the United States, the organizations that fly these missions are the United States Air Force Reserve's 53rd Weather ...
aircraft indicating that low-and upper-level circulations were not properly aligned, both the JTWC and JMA estimated that Abby became a typhoon early on September 16. At 06:00 UTC on September 18, the JMA reported that Abby attained its maximum intensity of . Six hours later, the JTWC estimated that Abby reached its peak intensity of . Moving northwest, the storm weakened slightly before making
landfall Landfall is the event of a storm moving over land after being over water. More broadly, and in relation to human travel, it refers to 'the first land that is reached or seen at the end of a journey across the sea or through the air, or the fact ...
in the eastern portion of Taiwan on September 19; the JTWC estimated winds of at the time of landfall. Due to land interaction, the storm rapidly weakened, with the low-level center re-curving towards the northeast. At 00:00 UTC on September 20, the JMA estimated that Abby weakened below typhoon intensity. Twelve hours later, the JTWC stopped monitoring the system while located southeast of
Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
. Around this time, the JMA reported that Abby transitioned into an
extratropical cyclone Extratropical cyclones, sometimes called mid-latitude cyclones or wave cyclones, are low-pressure areas which, along with the anticyclones of high-pressure areas, drive the weather over much of the Earth. Extratropical cyclones are capable of p ...
, although the JMA continued to track the system through the morning hours of September 24.


Preparations and impact

As a result of the typhoon, travel to the
Mid-Autumn Festival The Mid-Autumn Festival (for other names, see § Etymology) is a harvest festival celebrated in Chinese culture. It is held on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar with a full moon at night, corresponding to mid- ...
dropped by 20%. As a precaution, flights to Taiwan's two main airports, the Chiang Kai-shek Airport in suburban
Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...
and
Kaohsiung International Airport Kaohsiung International Airport ( zh, t=高雄國際機場, labels=no.) is a medium-sized international airport in Siaogang District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan, also known as Siaogang Airport ( zh, t=小港機場, labels=no). With 4.2 million pass ...
in the southern portion of the country, were diverted elsewhere, but the airports re-opened 12 hours after the cyclone passed. Even though the storm weakened slightly prior to landfall, some areas of the country received of rain, after already having suffered severe damage from Typhoon Wayne a week earlier. In southern Taiwan, about 100 people were trapped in floodwaters after the typhoon damaged dikes. Thirteen people perished due to the typhoon and three others were injured. A 4-year-old girl and her 2-year-old brother died after she tried to light a candle in response to power outages caused by the typhoon. Two men drowned in floods while one man was killed when his motorcycle struck an electric pylon. Falling trees crushed four other victims. In addition to the fatalities, one man was listed as missing after his automobile fell from a bridge into a river in Taipei. Approximately 2 million people lost power due to the storm, while more than 200 houses were destroyed. Over of crops were damaged. Damage totaled $81 million, but overall was less than expected. The remnants of the storm brought showers and strong winds to parts of Japan. A precipitation maximum occurred in
Yakushima is one of the Ōsumi Islands in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan. The island, in area, has a population of 13,178. It is accessible by hydrofoil ferry, car ferry, or by air to Yakushima Airport. Administratively, the island consists of the town ...
, where of rain fell. Within a 24-hour time span, Tano received the highest rainfall, with a total of . A peak wind gust of was measured on
Yonaguni Island , one of the Yaeyama Islands, is the westernmost island of Japan, lying from the east coast of Taiwan, between the East China Sea and the Philippine Sea. The island is administered as the Towns of Japan, town of Yonaguni, Okinawa, Yonaguni, Ya ...
.


See also

* Typhoon Agnes (1981)


Notes


References

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