Neoguri skims Korea, slams Japan

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Neoguri skims Korea, slams Japan

Typhoon Neoguri steered closer to Japan and moved away from the Korean Peninsula yesterday, leaving Korea only somewhat affected by the seasonal cyclone.

The combination of high pressure to the northeast and low pressure to the northwest slightly changed the trajectory of Neoguri and made it tilt toward Japan, the Korea Meteorological Administration said.

The weather agency said that Jeju Island and some of the southern regions saw only 40 millimeters (1.58 inches) to 50 millimeters of rain, which was much less than earlier expected.

Although the impact was not as strong as anticipated, people are being warned to stay alert in southern regions. The authorities canceled flights on Jeju Island and issued weather advice in preparation for the typhoon.

Neoguri showed maximum wind speeds of about 137 kilometers per hour (85 miles per hour) yesterday as of 3 p.m., the agency said, rating the wind as “strong.”

“We expected the typhoon to hit part of Korea on Wednesday,” said a meteorologist from the weather agency. “But it went past it, and the direction was tilted more closely to Japan, so Korea will not be the major target of Neoguri going forward.”

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center earlier upped its forecasted wind speeds for Neoguri to the equivalent of a Category 5, the most powerful on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.

But the Korean weather agency said that the scale has weakened.

“When it was first initiated, it was expected to be a super typhoon. But so far, it has been subdued,” the meteorologist said.

The agency said that Neoguri churned past Okinawa toward Japan’s main islands yesterday.

The powerful typhoon had left two dead there and more than 25 people injured as of 7:30 p.m.

BY PARK EUN-JEE [ejpark@joongang.co.kr]



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