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This article or section is about a current or ongoing event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses.

The 2004 Pacific typhoon season has no official bounds; it runs year-round in 2004, but most tropical cyclones tend to form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean between June and December. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean.

The scope of this article is limited to the Pacific Ocean, north of the equator and west of the international date line. Storms that form in the South Pacific are called cyclones; see 2004 Pacific cyclone season for those. Storms that form east of the date line and north of the equator are called hurricanes; see 2004 Pacific hurricane season. Tropical depressions in this basin have the "W" suffix added to their number.

Contents

1 Events 1.1 September 1.2 October 2 Storms 2.1 Typhoon Tokage 2.2 Typhoon Nock-ten 3 Names 4 External links

Events

September

• September 28
  • Typhoon Ma-on begins as a tropical depression east of the Northern Mariana Islands.
• September 30
  • Typhoon Meari strikes Japan in the Mie prefecture killing 27. [1] (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/3702566.stm)

October

• October 8
  • 0200 UTC - Typhoon Ma-on intensifies to a category 5 super typhoon.
• October 9
  • 0600 UTC - Typhoon Ma-on weakens, winds decrease to 104 mph (167 km/h).
  • 0800 UTC - Typhoon Ma-on strikes Japan near Tokyo killing 6.
• October 12
  • 1500 UTC - Tropical Depression 27W forms 200 nautical miles (370 km) east of Guam.
  • 2100 UTC - Tropical Depression 27W is upgraded to Tropical Storm Tokage.
  • Morning - Tropical Storm Tokage passes over Rota.
• October 13
  • 2100 UTC - Tropical Storm Tokage strengthens into Typhoon Tokage.
• October 14
  • 0300 UTC - Tropical Depression 28W forms 275 nautical miles (509 km) east-northeast of Pohnpei.
• October 16
  • 1200 UTC - Tropical Depression 28W is upgraded to Tropical Storm Nock-ten.
• October 18
  • 0300 UTC - Tropical Storm Nock-ten is upgraded to Typhoon Nock-ten.

Storms

Typhoon Tokage

An area of convection near Guam with extremely good conditions for strengthening developed into a tropical depression, numbered 27W at 1500 UTC on October 12. Almost immediately, a tropical storm warning was issued for Rota, Tinian and Saipan in the Mariana Islands. Only hours later, at 2100 UTC, it was upgraded to Tropical Storm Tokage.

Tokage passed over Rota in the early hours of October 13. By the afternoon, it had moved past the Guam region enough that all advisories were cancelled. The next day, it was upgraded to a typhoon and began heading towards Okinawa.

At 9 pm JST (1200 UTC) on October 18, Tokage was 230 miles (370 km) southwest of Okinawa with sustained maximum windspeeds of 110 mph (175 km/h). It is moving northwest at 11 mph (18 km/h). It is expected to pass over or near to Okinawa on the evening of October 19, then continue into mainland Japan.

Typhoon Nock-ten

Tropical Depression 28W formed in the open ocean on October 14, and was upgraded to a tropical storm on October 16 and named Nock-ten. It slowly started heading towards Guam, following a similar path to Tokage only days earlier. It reached typhoon strength midday on October 18.

At 4 am Guam time on October 19 (1800 UTC Oct. 18), Nock-ten was 105 miles (170 km) north of Ulul and 410 miles (660 km) southeast of Guam. It has maximum sustained windspeeds of 100 mph (160 km/h) and is expected to strengthen over the next day. It is moving west at 13 mph (21 km/h) and is expected to turn west-northwest. A tropical storm warning is in effect for Fananu and Ulul, and a typhoon watch for Guam, Faraulep, Rota, Tinian, and Saipan.

For official forecasts, see the National Weather Service's advisory (http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/fmtbltn.pl?file=hurricane_products/western_pacific/storm_2/advisory.txt&title=Tropical__Cyclone__Public_Advisory&maxage=006) on Typhoon Nock-ten.

Names

The names for Pacific basin typhoons are used sequentially; there is no set list for a particular year. This chart will only list those active or used names, plus the next name in the list.

Sudal Nida Omais Conson Chanthu Dianmu Mindulle Tingting Kompasu Namtheun

Meranti Malou Rananim Malakas Megi Chaba Aere Songda Sarika Haima

Meari Ma-on Tokage Nock-ten Muifa Nanmadol Talas Noru

External links

• Digital Typhoon (http://agora.ex.nii.ac.jp/digital-typhoon/) - images, storm tracks, and narratives in English and Japanese
• Tropical Storm Risk.com (http://www.tropicalstormrisk.com/)