Typhoon updates; riverman-sized (and style) TR

They cancelled school today since the HK government is expected to
hoist the Typhoon 8 warning within the hour. In the absence of any
African coups, earthquakes or tsunami to report on, I thought I'd keep
up my natural disaster TRs with some info on the imminent Typhoon.

Here in HK, they have a system to keep the population aware of
incoming storms. Its an artifact of the turn of the century, when
hundreds of opium ships came in and out, but wireless was not in
common use. On the top of the biggest hill on the island (a very big
hill at that), they would hoist a series of large markers that could
be seen out to sea. The original markers were denoted as 'typhoon
signal 1', 'typhoon signal 2, 'typhoon signal 3', etc up to 'typhoon
signal 10'. Soon thereafter, they were shortened to only Typhoon 1,
Typhoon 3, Typhoon 8 and Typhoon 10.

Signal 1 means that a severe storm is approaching...stay tuned.
Locally, when a T1 is issued, nothing changes (schools and businesses
are open), but people start getting prepared in case the signal
increases. When a T3 is issued, it means a typhoon is within a couple
hundred miles, and may or may not be moving toward HK. If it is
determined to potentially hit the city within a few hours, a T8 is
issued and all businesses and schools shut down, everyone goes home,
and roads are closed to private transport. If a T10 is issued, then
the storm is on your head, everything gets boxed up and people are not
even allowed to leave the buildings they are in.

Along with the T signals, there are rainfall signals. An Amber rain
means 'its coming down hard and watch to see if it gets worse'. A Red
Rain is the worst downfall you ever saw, with sheets of torrential
rain that can wash out roads. A Black Rain is like a firehose is over
your head, and hillsides and buildings get washed out. Streets
instantly flood as drainages get overwhelmed, and its not uncommon for
cars and pedestrians to get washed away.

Currently, we are under a T3, with the T8 expected in a few minutes.
Until about 5 minutes ago, it was fairly calm with unlimited
visibility, but the sea swells were throwing the big shipping vessels
around (I can an unobstructed view of the ocean from my front window).
One particular empty ship, maybe 250 feet long, was running for open
water and pitching like crazy, tossing a bow wave about 50 feet higher
than its front deck. The local weather is reporting seas to be upwards
of 20 meters (60 feet) this morning.

As I write this, the rain bands are just hitting now. Visibility just
dropped to about a mile, and the wind is starting to pick up. For now,
its no worse than any regular rain shower, with 10 mph winds and small
drops. But the storm is still 8 hours away....

Stay tuned. I'm going for a walk. :-)

--riverman

On Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:39:40 -0700 (PDT), riverman
wrote:

Along with the T signals, there are rainfall signals. An Amber rain
means 'its coming down hard and watch to see if it gets worse'. A Red
Rain is the worst downfall you ever saw, with sheets of torrential
rain that can wash out roads. A Black Rain is like a firehose is over
your head, and hillsides and buildings get washed out. Streets
instantly flood as drainages get overwhelmed, and its not uncommon for
cars and pedestrians to get washed away.

Very similar to a system of warnings they had in Japan in the 50s. I
remember one typhoon that was due to hit us around 1500. We came off
a mid-watch at 0730, and without showering, simply changed into our
civies and ran for the main gate hoping to get past it before they
shut off liberty. If we were past the gate, we were home free and
could go to our "shack-ups" in Yokohama. We didn't make it, so back
to the barracks, and slept until it got dark.

The wind was howling and sheets of rain were pelting our bodies when
four of us jumped over the fence behind the ham shack. We made it
into the small town of Seya to catch the train into Yokohama. Only
problem: the train was electric and there was no electricity. We
talked a cabbie into taking us to town for $10, and all four of us
jammed into his tiny Renault.

When we got into Yokohama, it was a ghost town. The wind had knocked
down signs and traffic signals, no electricity, and there was not a
car/bus/cop/person to be seen. Many of the streets were flooded,
especially in China Town near the harbor where I had a shack. My
"moose" (Japanese girlfriend) was surprised but happy to see me.
Sayoko san. The scariest part was not the jumping of the fence, nor
the hike into Seya, nor ride into Yokohama, but going to bed with a
candle burning. The floors were rice mats, the walls between rooms
were paper and thin wood. It was cozy, but deadly if a fire started.

Man, that was 50+ years ago. I sure hope that Sayoko san didn't age
as badly as I have. She'd be 67 now..... probably still
beautiful.....

Why do they call that ocean the Pacific when it is anything but?

Good luck with "your" typhoon, Mryon, and thanks for bringing back
some fond memories.

Dave

On Aug 22, 7:39*am, riverman wrote:
They cancelled school today since the HK government is expected to
hoist the Typhoon 8 warning within the hour. In the absence of any
African coups, earthquakes or tsunami to report on, I thought I'd keep
up my natural disaster TRs with some info on the imminent Typhoon.

Here in HK, they have a system to keep the population aware of
incoming storms. Its an artifact of the turn of the century, when
hundreds of opium ships came in and out, but wireless was not in
common use. On the top of the biggest hill on the island (a very big
hill at that), they would hoist a series of large markers that could
be seen out to sea. The original markers were denoted as 'typhoon
signal 1', 'typhoon signal 2, 'typhoon signal 3', etc up to 'typhoon
signal 10'. Soon thereafter, they were shortened to only Typhoon 1,
Typhoon 3, Typhoon 8 and Typhoon 10.

Signal 1 means that a severe storm is approaching...stay tuned.
Locally, when a T1 is issued, nothing changes (schools and businesses
are open), but people start getting prepared in case the signal
increases. When a T3 is issued, it means a typhoon is within a couple
hundred miles, and may or may not be moving toward HK. If it is
determined to potentially hit the city within a few hours, a T8 is
issued and all businesses and schools shut down, everyone goes home,
and roads are closed to private transport. If a T10 is issued, then
the storm is on your head, everything gets boxed up and people are not
even allowed to leave the buildings they are in.

Along with the T signals, there are rainfall signals. An Amber rain
means 'its coming down hard and watch to see if it gets worse'. A Red
Rain is the worst downfall you ever saw, with sheets of torrential
rain that can wash out roads. A Black Rain is like a firehose is over
your head, and hillsides and buildings get washed out. Streets
instantly flood as drainages get overwhelmed, and its not uncommon for
cars and pedestrians to get washed away.

Currently, we are under a T3, with the T8 expected in a few minutes.
Until about 5 minutes ago, it was fairly calm with unlimited
visibility, but the sea swells were throwing the big shipping vessels
around (I can an unobstructed view of the ocean from my front window).
One particular empty ship, maybe 250 feet long, was running for open
water and pitching like crazy, tossing a bow wave about 50 feet higher
than its front deck. The local weather is reporting seas to be upwards
of 20 meters (60 feet) this morning.

As I write this, the rain bands are just hitting now. Visibility just
dropped to about a mile, and the wind is starting to pick up. For now,
its no worse than any regular rain shower, with 10 mph winds and small
drops. But the storm is still 8 hours away....

Stay tuned. I'm going for a walk. :-)

--riverman

OK, just got back from my walk, and as expected they have hoisted the
T8 signal. All non-essential businesses are closed, and folks are
headed home for the unexpected 3-day weekend. There is a very cool
ominous feel to town this morning...all the bars and restaurants on
the waterfront are boxed up tight, windows taped with X's and storm
shields in place (big metal garage doors that cover the front of the
buildings). There are already sandbags framing the buildings and
directing the impending waters to the drainage ditches; tables and
benches are sandbagged to keep them from blowing away, and plants,
signs, sunshades and anything else that might get blown around is
packed up or tied down.

What makes it bizarre is that the outer rain bands are intermittent:
at this moment, its a beautiful sunny day with blue skies and no wind
at all. 10 minutes ago, it was a drizzly friday morning, with small
whitecaps being tossed around in the stiff breeze. As I look out to
sea, there is a band of whitewater about 3 miles away from a powerful
gust approaching, throwing spray up what must be 20 feet high. As the
day progresses, the open-air windows will close off, and the gusts
will join up until they form an hours-long nonstop howling maelstrom,
with sheets of torrential downpour, half-dollar sized hail, 70mph
winds, and waves 20 feet tall crashing into the breakwater in front of
my flat.

This should be fun. More in a few hours.

--riverman

Update 3: 11:15 AM

OK, the weather definitely has become 'stormy'...at least for half my
house. I live on the southeast side of HK island, and to the northwest
of me is a very large series of hills. The wind is coming down from
that direction, and my back patio area is being hit fairly hard: the
plants are whipping around, the picnic table is being pelted and the
cover over my barbeque is flapping around quite vigorously. I'd say
the winds against that side of the house are blowing at about 40mph,
with gusts at about 50.

However, out the front window, facing southeast, it just a drizzly
day! The building is shading the wind, so my front patio is bone dry,
the plants are happily sitting there, and the street below my window
(Stanley Market) seems like it is having a typical sunday morning,
waiting to open. In the distance I can see sheets of rain coming down
over the sea from around the sheltering hills, but the whitecaps have
subsided as this side of the island is the lee side. However, the news
just announced that the HK Observatory (the local weather gurus) have
announced that they still expect the storm to be one of the worst in
recent times, and to make a direct hit landfall, necessitating the
dreaded T10 signal sometime this afternoon. Probably along with the
dreaded Black Rain signal...it just doesn't get any more severe than
that.

The center of the storm is still about 6 hours out, and with the front
stormwall as 'steep' as it appears on the satellite images, things
should get really rocking in the next few hours. Time to go for
another walk.

--riverman

Hmmm, its now 4 pm, the website says the typhoon is RIGHT on top of my
head, and the best I can say is that its a mildly drizzly day. It
appears that we are in the eye, but overall its been pretty
anticlimatic.The winds have been coming from the NW pretty
consistently, so Stanley Harbor has been in the lee of HK island for
the duration. I can see some huge swells in the channel beyond the
harbor, but at the mouth of the harbor, they settle down.

Meanwhile, at this moment its really very funky....the air is
completely still, the sky is not crystal clear (since this storm is
not strongly defined), but its definitely a bright day with patches of
blue showing through. Birds are chirping, the rains have stopped, and
nothing is happening. I've always wanted to be in the eye of a
hurricane or typhoon....chalk up one more experience. :-)

With any luck, as soon as the storm passes a bit further inland, the
winds will reverse and instead of being on the lee side, we will be
face-on in the windward side and we'll get the full effects. The HK
Observatory has raised a T9 signal, which basically means its going to
be a T10 shortly, but there haven't been any bad rains with this storm
at all...not even an Amber rain. Some parts of the New Territories
have had winds of 100kph (66mph), which aren't so bad. The worst we;ve
seen here have been 50mph, tops.

Lets keep our fingers crossed for something fun to happen. :-)

--riverman

Lets keep our fingers crossed for something fun to happen. *:-)


Allllll Righty then! NOW we're cooking with gas. :-)

Just went outside, and man is it a typhoon! Winds are coming right up
the harbor, straight up the slot, and the waves are 10-20 feet
tall....these are waves where its usually just 2-3 inches of
nothingness. The waves are SLAMMING into the breakwater, breaking sky
high, and the winds are so hard that the spray is flying right into
the front of my flat, which is back about 50 feet and up on what
Americans call the second floor, but the rest of the world calls the
first floor (one above the Ground floor). The winds are
howling....steady at about 60 mph with gusts closer to 90. Trees are
flailing around like hay, signs are blowing down the road, alarms are
going off in every other building, branches are breaking and getting
rolled down the street, and at one point I had to hold on to the
handrail on the breakwater as the wind and waves were so strong they
threatened to knock me down. In the alley in front of my house
(Stanley Main St), the windtunnel effect is so strong that I can
barely make headway, and feel like I'm about to get lifted right off
my feet.

And the storm is strengthening! And most impressive of all....its been
downgraded to a Tropical Storm, so its not even a Typhoon any more.
WOW. Its ONLY a T9....what the HELL is a T10 like????

I'm going to dry off, have a cup of coffee, and go out in it again.
Its blowing so hard, its scary. I LOVE this stuff. :-)

--riverman

On Aug 22, 7:48*pm, riverman wrote:


HOLY CRAP is it howling outside! It gets worse minute by minute. I
swear I just saw someone on a bicycle with a dog in a basket just blow
by my window...

--riverman

HOLY CRAP is it howling outside! It gets worse minute by minute. I
swear I just saw someone on a bicycle with a dog in a basket just blow
by my window...

With all the technology, why didn't they just steer the storm towards
Japan?
I just saw some news out of China on CNN. Evidently, yesterday, a
woman there gave birth to a 12 year old gymanst who's expected to
compete in the London Olympics.
You stay safe. Hope they don't arrest you for reading the above.
Frank Reid

"riverman" wrote in message
...
On Aug 22, 7:48 pm, riverman wrote:


HOLY CRAP is it howling outside! It gets worse minute by minute. I
swear I just saw someone on a bicycle with a dog in a basket just blow
by my window...

--riverman

***********************

Thanks for the storm updates.... It would be great if you took some photos
of your flat and the neighborhood so we can get and idea of your surrounds.

Hope all is well...

Thanks,
JT

riverman wrote:
On Aug 22, 7:48 pm, riverman wrote:


HOLY CRAP is it howling outside! It gets worse minute by minute. I
swear I just saw someone on a bicycle with a dog in a basket just blow
by my window...

--riverman

Hey, Myron, thanks for the blow by blow (pun intended). Very interesting.

Russell