Japan braces for Typhoon Lionrock NASA’s Terra satellite flew over Tropical Storm Lionrock as it spun in the ocean off of Japan The system that was to become Typhoon Lionrock was first noted as a hybrid disturbance on August 15, while it was located about 585 km (365 mi) to the west of Wake Island. At this time the disturbance had a broad and poorly organized low level circulation centre, which had some shallow bands of atmospheric convection wrapping loosely around it. It was located within a marginal environment for further development and was predicted to develop further, in association with a developing upper level low. Japan braces for Typhoon Lionrock

Over the next day the system moved northwards, while a TUTT Cell created subsidence and high vertical windshear over the system, before it was classified as a tropical depression by the Japan Meteorological Agency during August 16. The depression was subsequently classified as subtropical by the United States Joint Typhoon Warning Center during August 17, as its structure was asymmetric, with deep convection displaced to the north and east of the system’s low level circulation centre. Lionrock’s track was unusual due to the fact that the storm approached Japan from the southeast and made landfall along the east coast of the country. Most typhoons that hit Japan approach from the south or the southwest before moving northward across the archipelago. In fact, the only other storm to take a similar track was Typhoon Mac in 1989, which also approached from the southeast and struck Japan’s Kantō region along its east coast