Typoon Nabi, once a powerful super typhoon, made landfall on Japan's main southern island of Kyushu with sustained winds reported at 126 kph (78 mph). Nabi, which means "butterfly" in Korean, continued on over the southwestern tip of Honshu, triggering mudslides and flooding along the way, before heading out into the Sea of Japan. The storm left 17 dead and 9 missing in Japan, many as a result of mudslides. Four people were also reported missing in Korea.

The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite has followed Nabi's progress across the West Pacific. TRMM was Launched back in November of 1997 to estimate rainfall over the global Tropics and has proven itself to be a valuable platform for monitoring tropical cyclones, especially over remote parts of the open ocean. With its array of active and passive sensors, TRMM can look into the very heart of these storms. These two images of Nabi were taken by TRMM and capture the storm during both its intensifying and weakening stages.

The first image was taken at 11:34 UTC on 31 August 2005 just after Nabi had entered the easternmost part of the Philippine Sea and was in the process of intensifying. The image shows the horizontal distribution of rain intensity within Nabi. Rain rates in the center of the swath are from the TRMM Precipitation Radar (PR), while those in the outer portion are from the TRMM Microwave Imager (TMI). The rain rates are overlaid on infrared (IR) data from the TRMM Visible Infrared Scanner (VIRS). TRMM reveals that Nabi has a small, closed eye with intense rain (dark red areas) in the southwestern half of the eyewall. The eye is surrounded by tightly spiraling rain bands (green and blue arcs), all features of a maturing cyclone. The intense rain near the center indicates were heat is being released into the storm and driving its circulation. At the time of this image, Nabi as a Category 2 typhoon with maximum sustained winds estimated at 95 knots (109 mph) by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. Nabi, which was in the process of intensifying, reached Category 5 intensity by 18 UTC on the 1st of September with sustained winds estimated at 140 knots (161 mph).

The next image shows Nabi at 08:29 UTC on the 5th of September as the large eye of the storm is bearing down on southern Japan. This dramatic image from TRMM reveals some important clues about the storm. The eye is now very large but still closed with no rain visible in the broad center. The storm is still relatively strong but in the process of slowly spinning down. The large eye indicates that the wind field has spread out, something that can occur in the later stages of strong tropical cyclones, making it unlikely that the storm can reintensify. At the time of the image, Nabi was a Category 3 typhoon with sustained winds estimated at 110 knots (127 mph). Nabi would continue to weaken as it approached the coastline.