Typhoon Vongfong
 

Does anyone know if it is going to be heading towards Tokyo and if so on what day?

Weather Underground says Tuesday morning.

http://www.wunderground.com/hurrican...Storm-Vongfong

time:sunday, 1400 hrs;high clouds;bright sunshine;temp 24C;wind,close to 0 knts: location,weston hotel, Kyoto.

http://i.imgur.com/kqXUfYj.png

http://www.jma.go.jp/en/typh/1419l.html

In Japan typhoon is called by number, not by name, this one is typhoon #19. :)

JR West has announced that starting 2 p.m. on Monday, October 13 train service in Osaka-Kyoto-Kobe area will gradually reduce and by around 4 p.m. on Monday JR West is planning to halt all service on 24 lines in Osaka-Kyoto-Kobe area for rest of Monday.

JR West has said that depending on damaged caused by typhoon #19 it is possible that there will be disruption in service in Osaka-Kyoto-Kobe area in morning of Tuesday, October 14.

I was thinking of flying into Tokyo on Wednesday and spending half the day. Would people here advice me to skip Tokyo altogether?

I would have a plan b; typhoons are unpredictable but the current trajectory has it centred over Tokyo on Tuesday.

Safe bet to skip it, especially to avoid flight delays. However, consider that:

- If it does pass through Tokyo on Tuesday, the weather on Wed will likely be quite good I would imagine.

- You will be protected in the case of cancelled flights and rebooked when possible with no penalties other than your time, schedule and sanity.

Guess it depends on why you are going and how important it is to you. Waiting until Thursday may be an option.

will i be placed in the same class, or possibly be downgraded?
must i take the next available flight, or can i stick around for a few days?
if on a direct flight, will i be placed on the next available regardless of how it gets there?
i got here on NW, will they put me on UA if available?

Is it currently hurricane season in Japan?

How often does it happen?

What kind of intensity do we expect during these hurricanes (on average)?

Thanks

Typhoon/Tropical Storm season is usually from May to November (although there are tropical storms in the general Pacific area pretty much year round). I remember them in December and also February when I lived in Kyushu. The average is in the mid to high twenties per season. As an example the current Vongfong is already downgraded to a severe tropical storm from cat. 5 super typhoon just days ago! Last weeks Phanfone was a cat. 4 super typhoon !

Depends where you are. Tokyo rarely gets hit badly. I've been through about 100 of them and never one serious enough to keep me from going out or taking the dog for a walk. A little rain. A little wind. A few hours delay on some trains and planes. A few roads shut down. That's about it. (Apologies to everyone who's into the current trend of spectacularizing weather events.) Just not that big a deal.

Further south it's a bigger deal and obviously you want to avoid surfing and other similar foolish activities.

Is it common for inbound flights to get cancelled due to hurricanes/typhoons around this time of year? We're scheduled to fly into NRT 10/28 and I'm a bit concerned. I obviously don't mean to come across as selfish/self-centered but I'm worried about our travel plans being affected.

This typhoon will be long gone by then.

I think he is worried about the next typhoon. lol

I've not been in that many typhoons but the first was a biggie - was at the start of October 2002, typhoon Higos http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon_Higos_(2002)
Same typhoon that interfered with filming of Lost In Translation. Wind was severe, rain was horizontal, luckily the worst of it in Tokyo coincided with my visit to a large exhibition centre in Makuhari Messe, couldn't have been that bad, found myself just a few metres from Prince Naruhito and made a couple of businessmen giggle when I asked who he was, his safety was obviously not in question. By the time I got out much of the wind had subsided. Hardly any bicycles were left standing.
Next day was the day I met MrLapLap and we went to Hakone. We did the Hakone circuit as soon as we arrived in order to take advantage of the clear skies and beautiful weather, just in time as Fuji San hid behind a shroud of mist for the remainder of our stay.
It is very unlikely that a typhoon as powerful as this one affects your trip. Unlikely, but not impossible. None of my flights were affected, none of my travel plans needed to be rearranged.

Made one of the last shinkensen trains out of Shin Osaka to Tokyo yesterday. This morning at 7am post-Typhoon, opened up my Westin hotel drapes to see clear blue sky and a perfect unfettered view of Fuji san. Rare for me considering it is my 15th time here and it is always blocked by cloud or Tokyo smog.

Japanese has a specific term for that - a clear sky after the smog has been blown away by the Typhoon - Taifu Ikka(台風一過)