Typhoon Ione
Category 4 typhoon (SSHWS)
This weather map on September 16 shows Ione nearing peak intensity while approaching Japan. Strengthening Jackie is also seen to its southwest.
FormedSeptember 11, 1948
DissipatedSeptember 17, 1948
Highest winds1-minute sustained: 220 km/h (140 mph)
Lowest pressure925 hPa (mbar); 27.32 inHg
Fatalities512 confirmed, 326 missing
DamageUnknown
Areas affectedNorthern Mariana Islands, Japan
Part of the 1948 Pacific typhoon season

Typhoon Ione was a catastrophic and deadly tropical cyclone that left over 512 confirmed deaths and another 326 to be missing as it affected Japan, with the majority of the fatalities coming from the city of Ichinoseki in Iwate Prefecture.[1] It also left a significant trail of damage on the country, just after Typhoon Kathleen devastated the area.[2][3] The fourteenth named storm and the ninth typhoon of the 1948 Pacific typhoon season, Ione was first seen in weather maps as a tropical storm near the Mariana Islands on September 11. It moved to the northwest, passing through the island country, before strengthening to a typhoon on September 13. It rapidly organized to a Category 4 typhoon and reached its peak intensity on the next day before slowly weakening as it started to approach the Japanese archipelago, while curving to the northeast. It then made landfall on September 16 between the present cities of Tateyama and Kisarazu in Chiba Prefecture as a minimal typhoon. It then passed through the southern coast of Hokkaido, before gradually degraded to a tropical storm as it emerged in the Pacific Ocean on the next day. It then became extratropical, shortly after.

Meteorological history

Map plotting the storm's track and intensity, according to the Saffir–Simpson scale
Map key
Saffir–Simpson scale
  Tropical depression (≤38 mph, ≤62 km/h)
  Tropical storm (39–73 mph, 63–118 km/h)
  Category 1 (74–95 mph, 119–153 km/h)
  Category 2 (96–110 mph, 154–177 km/h)
  Category 3 (111–129 mph, 178–208 km/h)
  Category 4 (130–156 mph, 209–251 km/h)
  Category 5 (≥157 mph, ≥252 km/h)
  Unknown
Storm type
triangle Extratropical cyclone, remnant low, tropical disturbance, or monsoon depression

At 00:00 UTC of September 11, the Fleet Weather Center noted that a tropical storm formed near the Mariana Islands, with one-minute sustained winds of 75 km/h (45 mph) detected near its center.[4][5] The agency also named it Ione, the fourteenth storm to be named during the season.[4] It steadily organized as it passed the island country, before strengthening to a minimal typhoon during September 13.[4] Moving to the northwest, it started to rapidly intensify under a favorable environment, becoming a Category 4 typhoon at 12:00 UTC of September 14, nearly 1,023 km to the southeast of Miyakonojō.[4][5] It held its intensity over 7 hours, before slowly weakening as it started to interact with an unfavorable environment.[4][5] A strengthening high-pressure area curved Ione to the north-northeast, while further degrading to a Category 2 typhoon.[4][5] Land interaction with the Japanese archipelago weakened the typhoon, before making landfall as a minimal typhoon between the cities of Tateyama and Kisarazu on the mid-morning of September 16.[4][5][6] While inland, Ione rapidly weakened to a tropical storm as it moved to the Pacific Ocean, with the system starting extratropical transition.[4][5][6] The system was last noted at 00:00 UTC of the next day as it fully became extratropical.[4] The remnants; however, continued to move to the northeast, passing through the Kuril Islands before dissipating on the Sea of Okhotsk.[6]

Preparations, impact and aftermath

In the preparations for the typhoon, railway and flight operations were halted due to the bad weather.[7] Some U.S. troops also helped to evacuate families through safe places.[7] Heavy rainfalls were also expected.[8]

Between 06:00 and 09:00 UTC (15:00 and 18:00 JST), Ione started to affect Japan.[6] In Tateyama, the maximum instantaneous wind speed recorded was 46.7 mph and the winds were strong in the center while the typhoon is making landfall, resulting in torrential rainfall and strong winds, causing many houses to fall and disintegrate.[9] Sendai recorded a rainfall amount of 351.1 mm and Miyako received an amount of 249.3 mm during the typhoon's passage.[6] Up to seven feet of floodwaters were experienced at Ichinoseki.[9] The typhoon also destroyed over 5,889 homes, leaving over 15,000 individuals homeless.[10] The authorities also received some considerable reports of crop and farmland damages in the prefectures of Gunma, Ibaraki and Yamanashi.[10] Some bridges in Ibaraki were also washed out by spilling rivers.[10][11] Two hotels were also isolated due to a large landslide, trapping inside over a hundred Americans who were just staying in the place for the typhoon.[7] Some farmers, despite the storm, harvested their crops that were partially destroyed by the winds.[12] In addition, due to another extratropical storm in the Sea of Japan, the combined effects of the system and the typhoon caused heavy rainfall as far as Hokkaido.[6]

The records of the Japan Meteorological Agency about Ione shows 512 fatalities; however, some reports says it may be higher as 650 or 838.[13] Over 1,965 individuals were injured due to various reasons.[6] 435 ships also sustained damages and over 133,428 hectares of farmland were flooded and/or destroyed.[6]

Following the typhoon, in 1951, the Kitakami River basin in Kitakami River, located in Tohoku region was designated as a specified region under the National Comprehensive Land Development Act and a plan was started to protect the basin from the floods.[14]

See also

Typhoon disasters in Japan

  • Typhoon Della - a typhoon that caused over 252 deaths in the country.
  • Typhoon Judith - a typhoon that caused over 154 fatalities in the country.
  • Typhoon Kitty - a typhoon that caused over 135 deaths in the country.

References

  1. ↑ "1948年 アイオン台風・（昭和23年） 9月15日～17日～自然災害の記録～NHK東日本大震災アーカイブス". NHK災害アーカイブス. Retrieved 2022-10-04.
  2. ↑ "アイオン台風とは". コトバンク (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-10-04.
  3. ↑ "アイオン台風（1948年9月16日）". Yahoo!天気・災害 (in Japanese). Retrieved 2022-10-04.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "IBTrACS - International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (1948 Super Typhoon IONE (1948255N14155)". ibtracs.unca.edu. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "IONE (1948255N14155 @ Western Pacific) - IBTrACS Database | Digital Typhoon". agora.ex.nii.ac.jp. Retrieved 2021-04-03.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "アイオン台風 昭和23年（1948年） ９月15日～９月17日". www.data.jma.go.jp. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
  7. 1 2 3 "LANDSLIDES IN MOUNTAINS CUT OFF HUNDREDS". Muncie Evening Press. 1948-09-16. p. 1. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
  8. ↑ "Typhoon Threatening Iwo Jima Island Area". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. 1948-09-15. p. 1. Retrieved 2021-04-03.
  9. 1 2 "Typhoon Toll Up To 650; Batters Northern Japan". The Dayton Herald. 1948-09-18. p. 2. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
  10. 1 2 3 "TYPHOON TAKES TOLL IN JAPAN". The Billings Gazette. 1948-09-17. p. 1. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
  11. ↑ Nakamura, S.; Oki, T. (2015-12-01). "Why does Japan use the probability method to set design flood?". AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts. 51: NH51B–1886. Bibcode:2015AGUFMNH51B1886N.
  12. ↑ NHK. "アイオン台風関東を襲う". テレビ60年 特選コレクション | NHKアーカイブス (in Japanese). Retrieved 2021-04-03.
  13. ↑ "650 DIE IN TYPHOON". News-Journal. 1948-09-18. p. 1. Retrieved 2021-04-02.
  14. ↑ JCOLD, Japan Commission on Large Dams- (2018-02-06). Dams in Japan: Past, Present and Future. CRC Press. ISBN 978-1-134-00619-9.
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