Long rainy season ends in Okinawa

Long rainy season ends in Okinawa

Children absorbed in playing with bubbles in the sunshine (morning of July 2, Kaigungo Park, Tomigusuku)


July 2, 2021 Ryukyu Shimpo

 

On July 2, the Okinawa Meteorological Agency announced that rainy season is ending in Okinawa. The end this year comes 11 days later than an average year (June 21), and 20 days later than last year (June 12). The start of rainy season was May 5 this year, making the rainy season a total of 58 days, 16 days longer than an average year.

According to the meteorological agency, the reason that the rainy season dragged on this year is that the North Pacific High’s extension to the west was weak due to the westerlies meandering into the southern part of Honshu. As a result, the baiu front was stagnant, pushing back the end of the rainy season. From July 2, the North Pacific High will extend west, and the baiu front will move north, which will result in consecutive sunny days in Okinawa. With this forecast, the meteorological agency announced the end of the rainy season in Okinawa.

This year’s rainy season was especially rainy on the main island of Okinawa. In Naha, 1058.0 milliliters (206% the precipitation of an average year) of rain fell, while in Kume Island, 945.0 milliliters (171% the precipitation of an average year) of rain were recorded. Even toward the end of the season, rain continued to fall. On June 29, weather information pertaining to especially heavy rainfall, a type of announcement that the agency started issuing on June 17, was announced on the main island. Sunshine hours in Nago were 73% that of an average year at 203.8 hours, while in Kume Island, sunshine hours were 78% that of an average year, at 223.4 hours.

For the next week, Okinawa will be covered by the North Pacific High, and can expect to see many days of sun.

On July 2, when the end of rainy season was announced, people could be seen working up a sweat by walking or exercising on Araha Beach in Chatan, under the first blue sky in some time. When rays of sunlight shone through breaks in the clouds, visitors at the beach could be seen taking pictures with their phones, inhaling deep breaths through their masks, and savoring the arrival of summer in the pleasant breeze.

A woman walking her dog said, “Recently it’s been raining so hard that there have been days I haven’t even been able to go for a walk. It feels great to breathe the fresh air outside today.” A man lounging in his beach chair turned his face to the sun and said, “I’ve been waiting for suntanning season to arrive. It’s too bad that the beaches are closed with the state of emergency, but I can’t wait to enjoy summer to the fullest once the coronavirus is under control.”

 

(English translation by T&CT and Ellen Huntley)

 

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