U.S. bases on Okinawa entered TCCOR 1 at 10 a.m. Friday. Bavi has been downgraded to a Category 1-equivalent typhoon. Latest forecast track takes Bavi toward Japan’s southwestern islands, should miss Okinawa by more than 250 miles, High winds, showers remain forecast for weekend. (Photo courtesy of Joint Typhoon Warning Center)
11 a.m. Friday, July 10, Japan time: U.S. bases on Okinawa entered Tropical Cyclone Condition of Readiness 1 at 10 a.m. Friday. Typhoon Bavi continues to weaken and is now a Category 1-equivalent system. It keeps heading northwest toward Japan’s outer southwestern islands and could clip Taiwan’s northern edges this weekend.
Joint Typhoon Warning Center forecasts passage just east of Ishigaki as a Category 1-equivalent storm. Far enough away that Okinawa could be spared Bavi’s full wrath, but close enough that U.S. bases on island may see some tropical storm-force winds and showers from its outer bands. The circulation is starting to appear ragged, but the gale-force wind field is still quite strong and wide, about 900 miles across.
At 9 a.m. Japan time, Bavi was about 395 miles south of Kadena Air Base, hurtling north-northwest at 13 mph, and had weakened to 85-mph sustained winds and 105-mph gusts at center.. JTWC forecasts Bavi to maintain current intensity as it passes 252 miles southwest of Kadena at around 5 a.m. Saturday.
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