Japan poised to issue special typhoon warning for Kyushu region
Japan’s weather agency said Saturday it is ready to issue a special typhoon warning for some areas in the country’s southwestern region of Kyushu as an “unprecedented” storm is forecast to approach.
Large and powerful Typhoon Nanmadol could make landfall in Kagoshima and bring record rain to the prefecture and nearby areas, with the agency calling for maximum vigilance as violent winds and high waves are expected, possibly triggering landslides and flooding.
Such emergency warnings are only issued when an extraordinary natural phenomenon that occurs once in a few decades is predicted. The agency said it may issue the most serious typhoon alert as early as Saturday evening for Kagoshima and other areas in Kyushu.
It would be the first such alert for Japanese prefectures apart from Okinawa. Ryuta Kurora, director of forecasts at the agency, told a press conference that the typhoon had rapidly intensified since Friday night and was “a dangerous (storm) like we have never experienced before.”
The slow-moving typhoon was expected to pass very close to the Amami and Kyushu regions from Saturday night to Monday, according to the agency.
The agency said the typhoon, which had an atmospheric pressure of 910 hectopascals at its center, could cause linear rainbands in the regions through Sunday before moving northeast and later possibly traveling across the country’s main archipelago.
The typhoon, packing winds of up to 198 kilometers per hour with maximum gusts of 270 kph, is forecast to bring heavy rain to various parts of Japan during the three-day weekend through Monday.
The agency said southern Kyushu could receive up to 500 millimeters of rain in the 24 hours to 6 am Sunday, while the Shikoku and Tokai regions in western and central Japan could see up to 300 mm of rainfall.