Typhoon Dolphin to Strike Okinawa Friday
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- Typhoon Dolphin reached "very strong typhoon" status with sustained winds of 185 km/h (115 mph) as of 05:00 GMT Tuesday, per Zoom Earth, after originating as a tropical depression on July 26 and briefly peaking as a super typhoon over the weekend before weakening back down on Sunday.
- Japan's Ogasawara (Bonin) Islands were battered by strong winds on Tuesday — the first Japanese territory hit — with the Japan Meteorological Agency issuing typhoon warnings in advance.
- Okinawa Island, home to 1.4 million people, faces a Friday morning landfall, with local governments advising residents to secure homes, stay away from the coast, and prepare for possible evacuations, power cuts, and ferry and flight disruptions.
- Northern and eastern Taiwan and coastal southeastern and eastern China are also expected to see heavy rain, strong winds, and high coastal swells from Dolphin's outer bands.
- The "Dolphin" name comes from Hong Kong's Chinese white dolphins, which was Hong Kong's contribution to the World Meteorological Organization's rotating typhoon name list for the western North Pacific.
Why it matters: Okinawa's 1.4 million residents sit in the direct path of a storm already hammering Japan's Ogasawara Islands with typhoon-force winds. With Typhoon Bavi striking China's Zhejiang province last month and Typhoon Noul hitting Guangdong just last week, Dolphin's Friday landfall lands on a region still recovering from back-to-back storms at peak typhoon season.
