Japan has experienced the strongest tornado in its recorded history after a devastating twister tore through Shizuoka prefecture. The tornado occurred as a result of unstable conditions from Tropical Storm Peipah, which made landfall in Japan’s Kōchi prefecture on the same day, striking near the city of Sukomo. View image in fullscreen Hurricane Kiko gathers steam north of Hawaii. Photograph: APMeanwhile, Hurricane Kiko, once a powerful category 4 hurricane in the eastern Pacific, weakened to a tropical storm as it skirted past Hawaii this week. By Tuesday, the system was officially downgraded to tropical storm status.