At one time, Chaba was a powerful super typhoon packing winds of 155 knots (178 mph) as it crossed the central Philippine Sea. The storm weakened as it turned northward and struck Kyushu, the southernmost main island of Japan, on the 30th of August 2004 as a Category 2 Typhoon with sustained winds estimated at 85 knots (98 mph) by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. The storm resulted in widespread flooding and was responsible for at least 13 fatalities in Japan.
The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite has been monitoring rainfall over the global tropics since its launch in November of 1997 using both a microwave imager and the first precipitation radar in space. The TRMM-based, near-real time Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (MPA) at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center provides quantitative rainfall estimates over the global tropics. MPA rainfall totals for the period 24 to 31 August 2004 are shown for Japan and surrounding areas. Cyclone symbols are shown at the 00:00 UTC positions, indicating the path taken by Chaba. A swath of very high rainfall amounts in excess of 305 millimeters (red areas) is clearly visible just to the right of Chaba's track. Locally heavier amounts of up to near 500 millimeters of rain are embedded within the high rain area. The swath of heavy rain extends over Kyushu where Chaba made landfall but then diminishes dramatically farther north as the storm rapidly accelerated away.
TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency JAXA.
NASA images produced by Hal Pierce (SSAI/NASA GSFC) and caption by Steve Lang (SSAI/NASA GSFC), NASA's Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission.
