page_title: Typhoon Shanshan (2006)
section_title: Meteorological history
hierarchical_section_title: Typhoon Shanshan (2006) / Meteorological history
caption_attribution_description: Typhoon Shanshan formed on September 10, 2006, in the western Pacific off the coast of the Philippine Islands. Over the course of the next 36 hours, it grew from a tropical depression (area of low air pressure) to a typhoon, reaching Category 4 strength as it passed Taiwan on September 15. Typhoon Shanshan stayed at Category 4 (a Super Typhoon) for two days, starting to subside only late in the day on September 16. As of September 19, the typhoon was projected to pass on a northeasterly track through the straits between the Korean Peninsula and southern Japan, and to curve east to cross Hokkaido. This photo-like image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite on September 18, 2006, at 1:25 p.m. local time (04:25 UTC). Shanshan at the time of this image had a well-defined spiral shape, with a distinct but cloud-filled (“closed”) eye. Shanshan had sustained winds of around 140 kilometers per hour (85 miles per hour) at the time this satellite image was acquired, according to the University of Hawaii’s Tropical Storm Information Center. Though no longer a super typhoon by this time, Agence France Presse reported nine deaths in southern Japan attributed to the storm, as well at least 310 injuries, and one person missing. Risks for landslides, flooding, and strong storm surge along the western coast were expected to remain high as the storm traveled near the western coastline.
context_page_description: Typhoon Shanshan, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Luis, was a strong typhoon that affected parts of East Asia in late September 2006. The 13th named storm of the 2006 Pacific typhoon season, Typhoon Shanshan was also the seventh typhoon of the year operationally recognised by the Japan Meteorological Agency. In post-operational analysis Shanshan became the eighth typhoon of the year when Typhoon Maria was added to the list. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center considered Shanshan the 13th tropical storm and eighth typhoon of the season, a Category 4-equivalent typhoon in terms of 1-minute average wind speed. The name Shanshan was submitted to the naming list by Hong Kong and is a girls' given name.
  Shanshan wreaked havoc in Japan, with reports that it caused a tornado which derailed a train. It made landfall first in the Yaeyama Islands, where it caused heavy rains, and later in Kyūshū. The outer bands of Shanshan also affected South Korea. Shanshan also knocked power out to thousands of homes in the two countries, and killed at least eleven people. Damage amounted to $2.5 billion, making Shanshan the sixth costliest disaster worldwide in 2006.
context_section_description: On September 9, 2006, the Japan Meteorological Agency identified a tropical depression with 25-knot 10-minute average sustained winds about 500 kilometres (300 mi) north-northeast of Yap, near latitude 14.0°N longitude 139.0°E. Later that day, the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) picked up on the tropical depression and started issuing track forecasts for the system.
  As the system continued to move northwestward, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center initiated advisories on Tropical Depression 14W on the morning of September 10. Later that day, the tropical depression moved into the PAGASA Area of Responsibility, and was named Luis. As the system continued to strengthen, the JMA upgraded the depression to a storm at 1200 UTC and named it Shanshan, a girls' given name submitted by Hong Kong. The HKO did the same at the same time, upgrading the depression to a storm.
  The storm quickly strengthened, being upgraded twice by the JMA on September 11, at 0600 UTC to a severe tropical storm and at 1800 UTC to a typhoon, becoming the seventh official typhoon of the season. It then took on a more north-northwesterly track, weakening while undergoing an eyewall replacement cycle on September 14. However, it restrengthened, reaching its maximum intensity of 110 knots (205 km/h, 125 mph) from the JMA and 120 knots (220 km/h, 140 mph) from the JTWC before passing Iriomote on September 15. Originally expected by the JTWC to pass to the east of Okinawa Island, a subtropical high-pressure ridge south of the main Japanese islands forced the storm to take a more westward track, pushing it towards Taiwan. Shortly later, Shanshan passed directly over Iriomote.
  PAGASA issued their final advisory later on September 16. Peak intensity for Typhoon Luis as reported by PAGASA while it was in their area of responsibility was only 80 knots (150 km/h, 95 mph). Shanshan made landfall on September 17 on the island of Kyūshū. The HKO issued their final track forecast on the weakening typhoon later that day as it passed out of their area of responsibility, with the peak intensity while within HKO's area of responsibility set at 185 km/h (115 mph, 100 kt). The JTWC declared the system extratropical shortly after.
  The JMA downgraded the typhoon to a severe tropical storm at 0000 UTC September 18. Just before crossing the island of Hokkaidō, according to the JMA's best-track graphic, Severe Tropical Storm Shanshan became extratropical. The extratropical storm was tracked by the JMA in their high seas marine warnings until September 22.
caption: Typhoon Shanshan approaching Kyusyu and the Korean peninsula on September 17
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