Typhoon bringing heavy rain to wide areas of Japan

 you don't see the mass evacuations because the typhoons tend to be weaker 

Clarify that statement if you will! Typhoons weaken CONSIDERABLY by the time they hit mainland Japan, in fact folks down here often times scratch their heads in wonder why the big deal in the media and press for such "small" storms!

Typhoons are just as strong, and depending upon the storm, stronger than hurricanes, had a storm hit Miyako Island in the recent past, that had wind gusts that were registered at nearly 80m/s which is close to 180 mph wind gusts that blew over steel reinforced concrete telephone poles.

We are better capable of handling these storms down here than mainland for a number of reasons, first the buildings are built to withstand them, unlike in regions that get hit with hurricanes that worry more about (my opinion)aesthetics than practicality. i.e. building a concrete house, but giving it a wooden roof? Like Doh? It's GOING to blow off in a hurricane.

Also, the island, is not built on volcanic ash, less landslides, and the formation of coral rock allows faster water run off.

Japan gets typhoons just as strong as hurricanes!

cucashopboy - Like I said, sensationalist headlines are a moot point. The reality was it was a bit of rain.

No need for attention-seeking melodrama.

clamenza -https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-20/typhoon-lan-poses-a-35-billion-threat-to-japan-in-worst-case

Enjoy yourself and stay safe out there!

Cucashopboy - I don’t remember a single headline predicting possible 35 billion damages in Tokyo. Anyway it’s a moot point. We got about a day and a half of steady rain. That was the reality. It’s sad that people feel the need for attention so badly that they would mark themselves “safe” afterwords.

Now if you’ll excuse me, it’s a bit gusty out there today. Gotta go fire up Facebook and tell everyone I’m safe

clamenza - the international media went overboard with predictions of the effect of Typhoon 21, describing it as a supertyphoon (it was for a while). I read one headline predicting 35 billion dollars of damage to Tokyo! I think it's reasonable for people with family overseas to report themselves as safe. Didn't see the need myself though.

kwatt - you don't see the mass evacuations because the typhoons tend to be weaker and also the Japanese infrastructure is much more able to cope with extreme weather. Traditionally, Japanese infrastructure has been overfunded (concrete-lined rivers everywhere) and America's has been underfunded.

This and the previous weekends have been absolutely miserable, and noisy due to the rain hitting the roof of my window. Apart from Saturday morning it's been completely washed-out. Non-stop. And the week before last was non-stop too. Those reservoirs are going to be full.

Looks like the upcoming 3 day weekend will be clear though!

Stay safe people, careful you don't get wet.

The rainy season has been really overshadowed by the abnormal long spell of rainy weather these days.

I don't blame people for marking themselves as safe (although I personally selected 'doesn't apply to me' even though I was in Tokyo), I blame Facebook for being alarmist. There was no need for them to activate that 'feature' in response to last week's weather event.

smithinjapan - after 3/11 or something similar, sure. After a few days rain? Attention seeking lonely people.

I guess you clicked "safe" too, eh? Did you get the sought after affirmation?

Anyway, stay safe, peeps. This one was nothing compared to last week's in Osaka at least, but still lots of swollen rivers and rainfall that can cause problems.

Quite the reverse for the main island of Okinawa, last week's typhoon made a hairpin turn around the island, this time the eye, while not very well developed, went right over my house. There was actually sunshine in the early afternoon yesterday, and the the backside slammed us!

I lost a couple of trees in my yard from this typhoon, it was stronger that expected!

ANd you are quite right in your initial comment about folks overseas and such, I often get messages asking if I am alright after an earthquake. Got NOTHING to do with being an attention hog, it's just common sense.

clamenza: "Anyone else notice the number of people who were so attention-starved last week that they posted themselves as "safe" on Facebook?"

Some people have family overseas, friend, and while people nearby and in other parts of Japan may see it as "just another typhoon", same as an earthquake rattling the area doesn't cause people here to bat an eye but makes headlines overseas, family and friends elsewhere may wonder if you are okay. There is nothing wrong with people letting others know they are (or aren't), if they so choose. I notice you took the time to notice them doing it and call attention to it -- what does that say about you?

Anyway, stay safe, peeps. This one was nothing compared to last week's in Osaka at least, but still lots of swollen rivers and rainfall that can cause problems.

buffalo

What's confusing?  He said that because of the rain it takes 4 hours to get to work.  He hasn't recovered from the last recent typhoon.   He's blaming the weather on global warming and hates to think what that means for snow fall this winter.

Cannot science hold down or weaken typhoons as soon as they are spawned in southern ocean? 

I hope to god this NEVER happens. Typhoons, as destructive as they may be, serve a very real and necessary purpose when it comes to the ocean.

As sea temperatures rise, fish and other marine wildlife are severely affected, these typhoons churn up the waters, help lower overall sea temperatures, and bring out plankton and other "food" for fish and marine life to feed on.

Also coral reefs are severely damaged with higher ocean temps. So while "man" may be a casualty, nature is the victor.

Hurricane seems much bigger storm than typhoon.

We've had typhoons here that are just as big and damaging as the hurricanes in the US and Caribbean, the land structure itself, and the buildings and infrastructure are different.

Hurricane seems much bigger storm than typhoon. When hurricanes approached Florida and neighboring states, millions of locals escaped by cars from their towns/cities. Never seen millions of Japanese locals evacuted from Tokyo or other big towns/cities. both are same but sizes are different.

This and the previous weekends have been absolutely miserable, and noisy due to the rain hitting the roof of my window. Apart from Saturday morning it's been completely washed-out. Non-stop. And the week before last was non-stop too. Those reservoirs are going to be full.

Cannot science hold down or weaken typhoons as soon as they are spawned in southern ocean? Mechanism of typhoons and hurricanes are the same. They are born in hot seas where boiled seawater vaporize and become storms getting whirling energy from the rotation of the earth.

I don't think I've ever experienced a spate of so much rain before in my life than the last couple of weeks in Tokyo. .

Really now? This typhoon hit Okinawa yesterday, actually Friday late, but no news? Right, more "mainland/Tokyo" bias!

Anyone else notice the number of people who were so attention-starved last week that they posted themselves as "safe" on Facebook?

Safe after a heavy rain.

Goodlucktoyou, your comments confuse me.

Another 4 hour drive to work. Still haven't recovered from the last one. With these freak GW events happening, hate to think about how much snow we will get this winter.