Sea Surface Temperatures Record - High In August
Weather officials in Japan say the country's sea surface temperatures in August were the highest on record.
The Meteorological Agency says the average water surface temperatures of the Pacific side of eastern and western Japan, as well as the southern islands of Okinawa and Amami, were around 30 degrees Celsius last month.
In some areas, temperatures were the highest since record-keeping began in 1982.
In the area east of Okinawa, the average was 30.7 degrees, 2.1 degrees higher than usual. In waters off the Shikoku and Tokai regions, it was 1.7 degrees warmer, and in the sea southeast of Kanto 1.6 degrees higher.
Weather officials say the high temperatures were due to a Pacific high-pressure system extending toward Japan, blanketing the waters with warm air. They add that typhoons travelled far west of Japan, leaving seawater unstirred and warm.
They say high sea surface temperatures until late September will cause large amounts of water vapor to rise, contributing to the development of typhoons.
The officials also say a tropical depression currently near the Ogasawara Islands far south of Tokyo could become a typhoon, and grow powerful if it moves north while passing through warm-water areas.
They are on the alert, as more tropical depressions could develop into typhoons.
