Typhoon Shanshan (2024)

Typhoon Shanshan

Shanshan nearing its initial peak intensity over the Ryukyu Islands on August 27
Meteorological history
Formed	August 21, 2024
Dissipated	September 1, 2024
Very strong typhoon
10-minute sustained (JMA)
Highest winds	175 km/h (110 mph)
Lowest pressure	935 hPa (mbar); 27.61 inHg
Category 4-equivalent typhoon
1-minute sustained (SSHWS/JTWC)
Highest winds	215 km/h (130 mph)
Lowest pressure	932 hPa (mbar); 27.52 inHg
Overall effects
Fatalities	8
Injuries	127
Damage	≥$6 billion (2024 USD)
Areas affected	Japan, South Korea
IBTrACS / [1][2]
Part of the 2024 Pacific typhoon season

Typhoon Shanshan was a powerful tropical cyclone that moved through Japan in August 2024. The tenth named storm and fourth typhoon of the annual typhoon season, Shanshan was first noted near the Mariana Islands on August 20, with deep convection beginning to consolidate. The following day, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) upgraded it to a tropical storm and named it Shanshan. Early the next day, both the JMA and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) classified it as a minimal typhoon. Shanshan turned west-northwestward and stalled near Kikaijima, reaching its peak intensity with ten-minute sustained winds of 175 km/h (110 mph) and a central pressure of 935 hPa (27.61 inHg). It then peaked at Category 4-equivalent intensity on the Saffir–Simpson scale on August 27, with one-minute sustained winds of 215 km/h (130 mph). As the typhoon moved through the Ryukyu Islands, it further decayed, becoming cooler and less defined. Shanshan turned northward between two mid-level subtropical ridges and made landfall near Satsumasendai in Kagoshima Prefecture around 8 a.m. local time on August 29. It then turned eastward along the northern edge of a subtropical high and quickly crossed the Seto Inland Sea before making landfall over the northern tip of Shikoku on August 30. Shanshan's convection has slightly increased over the past six hours as its circulation moved back over open water and began progressing east-southeastward due to interaction with a mid-latitude trough. It then moved inland over Japan and dissipated on September 1.

After Tropical Storm Maria and Typhoon Ampil impacted Japan, Shanshan arrived a few days later. In preparation for Shanshan, storm warnings were issued for 14 communities in the Satsuma and Ōsumi areas of Kagoshima Prefecture, and on August 28, the JMA issued special weather warnings for Kagoshima Prefecture. This was the first emergency warning issued for Kagoshima Prefecture since Typhoon Nanmadol in 2022. As Shanshan brushed the islands of Amami Ōshima and Kikaijima, maximum sustained wind gusts near 100 miles per hour (160 km/h) were recorded at Kikai Airport on the latter island. The JMA began issuing landslide and rockslide warnings in Kagoshima, Miyazaki, and Shizuoka prefectures. As Shanshan moved ashore in Kyushu, a wind gust of 85 miles per hour (137 km/h) was recorded in Makurazaki, Kagoshima. Meanwhile, heavy rainfall from Shanshan affected the South Korean island of Jeju. In all, the typhoon killed at least eight people, injured 127 others, and damaged hundreds of structures throughout Japan. Damages are estimated at US$6–10 billion.^[3]