Typhoon Strikes Kyushu

Tropical Storm Shanshan made landfall on Japan’s southwestern island of Kyushu as a typhoon yesterday with maximum sustained winds hitting roughly 156 mph at landfall, putting millions of people under evacuation orders. Shanshan, which at landfall was the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane, is believed to be the strongest to ever hit the region and has resulted in at least five deaths.

The storm brought record rainfall—some areas recording over 2 feet in 24 hours—power outages, transportation disruptions, and the threat of landslides and floods. The storm is likely to track northeast this morning before moving east over Honshu later today. 

The Northwest Pacific experiences an average of 25 named storms annually, with one landing in Japan last year. Typhoons and hurricanes are both rotating storm systems that differ in name by location: typhoons occur in the Northwest Pacific, while hurricanes form in the North Atlantic and Northeast Pacific.