{"id":2315,"date":"2013-09-16T15:47:34","date_gmt":"2013-09-16T06:47:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2013-09-16\/2315"},"modified":"2013-09-16T15:47:34","modified_gmt":"2013-09-16T06:47:34","slug":"a-bit-more-rain-in-kyoto-than-normal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2013-09-16\/2315","title":{"rendered":"A Bit More Rain in Kyoto Than Normal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 24mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1000 sec, f<\/span>\/7.1, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nrunning high\nCourtesy Typhoon #18<\/span>\nKamo River from the Ooike Bridge\n\u9d28\u5ddd\u3001\u5927\u6c60\u5927\u6a4b\u304b\u3089\uff08\u4eac\u90fd\u5e02\uff09\n<\/div>\n\n

“<\/span>Typhoon #18”<\/span> for 2013 rolled by this morning, bringing lots of rain and the once-every year-or-so high water\nin the Kamo River. This post is essentially a repeat<\/span> of the high-water posts from 2010<\/a>\nand\nlast year<\/a>, except this time there was significant flooding elsewhere in Kyoto.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a><\/div>\n\n

If I'd had my iPhone with me while sleeping, I would<\/span> have been awoken at\n5am by the emergency alerts from Kyoto Prefecture and Kyoto City, warning\nof heavy rain. I'd never<\/span> seen one of these before.<\/p>\n\n

When growing up in Ohio, the National Weather Service would issues\ndifferent level alerts for tornados and storms: first a low<\/span>-level “<\/span>watch”<\/span>,\nthen if the danger became immediate, a “<\/span>warning”<\/span>. Warnings were rare.<\/p>\n\n

Japan had the same two levels of warnings until a third,<\/span>\nhigher-than-“<\/span>immediate danger”<\/span> level was added this summer:\u300c\u7279\u5225\u8b66\u5831\u300d(<\/span>“<\/span>Special Warning”<\/span>). This would be\nreserved for calamities — rain, wind, snow, tsunami, volcanic ash, etc. — that might\nhappen once in a generation.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

The first ever such alert was issued this morning, for all of Kyoto Prefecture, as seen at right.<\/p>\n\n

What particularly caught my eye (when I noticed<\/span> this on my phone five\nhours later) was the almost conversational sentence: “<\/span>It's possible you've\nnever experienced heavy rain like this in your life”<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n

Having grown up in Ohio, I like a good<\/span> storm; I'm bummed I missed<\/span> it. Now I know<\/span> what\nall the sirens I vaguely<\/span> heard through my sleep were.<\/p>\n\n

Here's what the rain radar looked like at the time of the alert.<\/p>\n\n

\nThe small<\/span> black square to the lower-right of center is where I live.<\/span>\n\u5348\u524d\uff15\u6642\uff11\uff15\u5206\u306e\u30ec\u30fc\u30c0\u30fc\u3002\n\u4e2d\u5fc3<\/span>\u306e\u53f3\u4e0b<\/span>\u306e\u9ed2\u70b9<\/span>\u306f\u79c1\u306e\u5bb6\uff08\u4eac\u90fd\u5e02\u5de6\u4eac\u533a\u5ca1\u5d0e\uff09<\/span><\/div>\n\n\n

Frankly, the radar looked much<\/i> worse (much more red) a couple<\/span> of weeks ago when the last typhoon came near,\nbut for whatever reason the high water and flooding never materialized\nthen.<\/p>\n\n

Anyway, it takes the water a couple of hours after the heaviest rain to\naccumulate from the mountains to the river near me, but I didn't<\/span> pop out to\ntake a look<\/span> until five hours later, so the water had already receded\nconsiderably.....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 95mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>1000 sec, f<\/span>\/5.6, ISO 500 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nDebris<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

You can see all the debris that had accumulated against the stone fence toward the right, showing\nhow high the water had been.<\/p>\n\n

The bridge in the background is the Sanjo Bridge. To illustrate<\/span> what the river looks like normally, this next photo, from\n“<\/span>Terrace Dining Over Kyoto's Kamo River<\/a>”<\/span>,\nshows the same scene a couple<\/span> of years ago from the opposite direction,\nfrom that bridge looking toward where I am<\/span> now.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Nikkor 14-24mm f\/2.8 @ 14mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/11, ISO 720 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nNormal Situation<\/span>\n\u666e\u901a\u306e\u72b6\u6cc1\uff0811\u5e74\u306e\u590f\u306e\u64ae\u5f71\uff09\n<\/div>\n\n

To further illustrate, here's a shot<\/span> from even further down, looking back at both bridges,\nfrom “<\/span>Skipping Rocks with Kenny<\/a>”<\/span> back in 2011....<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D700 + Voigtl\u00e4nder 125mm f\/2.5 — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>400 sec, f<\/span>\/2.5, ISO 280 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nRelatively Low Water<\/span>\n\u4e09\u6761\u5927\u6a4b\u3001\u6d45\u3044\u6c34\u4f4d\uff0811\u5e74\u306e\u51ac\u306e\u64ae\u5f71)\n<\/div>\n\n

Back to today...<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 78mm — 0.3 sec, f<\/span>\/25, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nSanjo Bridge<\/span>\n\u4e09\u6761\u5927\u6a4b\uff08\u4eca\u65e5\u306e\u64ae\u5f71\uff09\n<\/div>\n\n

Having recently posted\n“<\/span>The Effect of Shutter Speed on the Appearance of Flowing Water<\/a>”<\/span>, I tried<\/span> a few<\/span> shots at different speeds to create a sense<\/span> of flow, but in this case the “<\/span>angriness”<\/span> of the water seems more\npertinent than “<\/span>smooth flow”<\/span>, so it turns out that a relatively<\/span> short 1\/13th second shot seems most appropriate:<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 240mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>13 sec, f<\/span>\/13, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\n♪<\/sup>♫ <\/sub>♪ Under the Boardwalk... ♪ ♪ <\/sup>♫<\/span>\n\n<\/div>\n\n

As a result of the typhoon, the bullet train line was shut down, as were\nmost of the expressways in this part of the country. Today was the last of\na three<\/span>-day weekend, so everyone who was going to be traveling on the\nhighways got diverted into the city and follow their car navigation systems\nlooking for a way<\/span> west out of the city, and there are only two: Route 1<\/span> and Sanjo Street,\nand the latter, at least, was a parking<\/span> lot:<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 290mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>640 sec, f<\/span>\/6.3, ISO 1400 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nSanjo Street<\/span>\nample parking\n\u4e09\u6761\u901a\u308a\u306f\u99d0\u8eca\u5834\u306b\u6210\u308a\u307e\u3057\u305f\n<\/div>\n\n

When I decided to take a pop out to the river with the camera this\nmorning, I knew things<\/span> were a bigger<\/span> deal than I'd first thought when I\ncame<\/span> out of the garage and saw the traffic on my street. Normally it's\npretty quiet, but due to its particular circumstances, it quickly becomes a parking<\/span> lot itself when the expressways are\nshut down. Today was the second time I'd seen this in ten years.<\/p>\n\n

Luckily I travel by scooter, so traffic was not an issue. \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 50mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>25 sec, f<\/span>\/22, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nLooking South from the Sanjo-Street Bridge<\/span>\n\u4e09\u6761\u5927\u6a4b\u304b\u3089\u5357\u3078\n<\/div>\n\n
<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 50mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>100 sec, f<\/span>\/9, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nCasualty<\/span>\n\u5272\u308c\u305f\u6a4b\u306e\u67f5\n<\/div>\n\n

The stone fence here did not fare as well as the one seen in “<\/span>Debris”<\/span> above, buckling under the weight of\nthe flow. The inscription<\/span> on the fence says “<\/span>1994”<\/span>.<\/p>\n\n

<\/a>\nNikon D4 + Sigma “Bigma” 50-500mm OS @ 50mm — 1<\/sup>\/<\/big>200 sec, f<\/span>\/6.3, ISO 100 —\nmap & image data<\/a> — nearby photos<\/a><\/span>\nNot Quite Worth<\/span>\nthe advertised “<\/span>1,000 words”<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n

I don't know that this is much better, but here's a short<\/span> video I shot<\/span> at the same time. Warning: sound of rushing water is loud.<\/p>\n\n