Typhoon Tokage (27W) south of Japan
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer ( MODIS ) flying aboard the Terra satellite captured this true-color image of Typhoon Tokage on October 19, 2004, at 2:15 UTC. At the time this image was taken Tokage was located approximately 23 miles south-southeast of Okinawa, Japan, and was moving towards the north-northeast at 27 km/hr (15 mph). Generating winds of up to 173 km/hr (107 mph), Tokage—“lizard” in Japanese—was expected to hit Kyushu, Japans southernmost main island, on Wednesday to become the record 10th typhoon to make landfall in Japan this year. Experts say Japan has suffered from an unusual number of storms this year due to warmer offshore waters and weaker than normal Pacific high pressure areas.
