This image is from Tropicalstormrisk.com. The green indicates “tropical storm” level winds (63-118 km/h or 17 to 32 meters per second) while the yellow indicates a Category 1 strength typhoon or hurricane (winds of 119-153 km/h or 33 to 42 m/s). So, it looks like the tropical storm became a full-fledged typhoon as it approached us. It’s calm in Kumamoto City now (and quite cool, too) but this morning the winds were quite strong. I think I underestimated the strength of the storm yesterday. It’s always better to assume the worst because you never know exactly what things will be like until the storm is actually upon you.
– Kirk