Typhoon Higos (2002)

Typhoon Higos

Typhoon (JMA scale)
Category 4 (Saffir–Simpson scale)
Typhoon Higos at peak intensity on September 30
Formed	September 25, 2002
Dissipated	October 4, 2002
(Extratropical after October 2, 2002)
Highest winds	10-minute sustained: 175 km/h (110 mph) 1-minute sustained: 250 km/h (155 mph)
Lowest pressure	930 hPa (mbar); 27.46 inHg
Fatalities	12 total
Damage	$2.14 billion (2002 USD)
Areas affected	Northern Marianas Islands, Japan, Russian Far East
Part of the 2002 Pacific typhoon season

Typhoon Higos was considered the third strongest typhoon to affect Tokyo since World War II. The 21st named storm of the 2002 Pacific typhoon season, Higos developed on September 25 east of the Northern Marianas Islands. It tracked west-northwestward for its first few days, steadily intensifying into a powerful typhoon by September 29. Higos subsequently weakened and turned to the north-northeast toward Japan, making landfall in that country's Kanagawa Prefecture on October 1. It weakened while crossing Honshu, and shortly after striking Hokkaidō, Higos became extratropical on October 2. The remnants passed over Sakhalin and dissipated on October 4.

Before striking Japan, Higos produced strong winds in the Northern Marianas Islands while passing to their north. These winds damaged the food supply on two islands. Later, Higos moved across Japan with wind gusts as strong as 161 km/h (100 mph), including record gusts at several locations. A total of 608,130 buildings in the country were left without power, and two people were electrocuted in the storm's aftermath. The typhoon also dropped heavy rainfall that peaked at 346 mm (13.6 in). The rains flooded houses across the country and caused mudslides. High waves washed 25 boats ashore and killed one person along the coast. Damage in the country totaled $2.14 billion (¥261 billion 2002 JPY), and there were five deaths in the country. Later, the remnants of Higos affected the Russian Far East, killing seven people involved in two shipwrecks offshore Primorsky Krai.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) first monitored an area of disturbed weather on September 25. At the time, the system consisted of a weak circulation, but with good outflow and located in an area of low wind shear. The system moved to the west-northwest, steered by a subtropical ridge to the east of Japan. On September 26, a tropical depression developed about 925 km (575 mi) east of the Northern Marianas Islands, and also to the south of the Japanese island of Minamitorishima. Later that day, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) upgraded the depression to Tropical Storm Higos, at the same time that the JTWC also upgraded to a tropical storm. By that time, the system had developed an organized area of convection.