Midday on August 22, the typhoon reached its peak intensity, with winds of 145 km/h (90 mph) and a minimum barometric pressure of 965 mbar (28.5 inHg).

Quickly crossing central and northern Honshu, Rita veered slightly northward before weakening into a tropical storm early on August 23.

[5] The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) estimated that a monsoon depression formed over 320 km (200 mi) southeast of Okinawa on August 18.

Drifting first east then westward,[4] Rita was upgraded into a tropical storm the next day by both the JTWC and JMA,[6] based on Hurricane Hunter reports of storm-force winds.

Due to a weakening subtropical ridge east of Japan, the storm reversed back to an easterly direction near the northern tip of Okinawa.

Rita strengthened into a typhoon, the sixth of the season, on the afternoon of the August 21 as the storm grew significantly in size, especially in the eastern semicircle.

Midday on August 21, the typhoon reached its peak intensity, with winds of 145 km/h (90 mph) and a minimum barometric pressure of 965 mbar (28.5 inHg).

Quickly crossing central Honshu, Rita veered slightly northward and accelerated to speeds of 55 to 65 km/h (35 to 40 mph) ahead of an advancing cold front in the Sea of Japan.

[4] At 00:00 UTC on August 23, Rita was downgraded to a tropical storm,[7] and transitioned into an extratropical cyclone 24 hours later,[1] after merging with a frontal zone south of Hokkaido.

[8] Early on August 20, a minimum pressure of 983.4 mbar (29.0 inHg) was observed at Kadena Air Base, although winds were comparatively light with a peak gust of 69 km/h (43 mph) at 05:14 UTC.

Prior to landfall, Rita's large eye moved directly over Murotomisaki, where sustained winds of 145 km/h (90 mph) along with a minimum pressure of 966.3 mbar (28.5 inHg) were measured.