Typhoon Leepi Makes Landfall in Southwestern Japan

August 15, 2018

Tokyo- Typhoon Leepi traveled across the southwestern Japan main island of Kyushu on Wednesday, bringing heavy rains, after making landfall in the region in the early hours.

The 15th typhoon of the year moved off the coast of the city of Fukuoka by 9 a.m. (midnight Tuesday GMT) after making landfall around the city of Hyuga in Miyazaki Prefecture shortly before 3 a.m.

The typhoon weakened and is expected to be downgraded to a tropical cyclone around the southern Korean Peninsula on Wednesday night.

But weather forecasters warned that rainfall could increase in the Pacific side of western Japan due to warm and humid air.

The typhoon brought heavy rains across wide areas in Japan, ranging from Kyushu and the Shikoku western main island to the southern part of the Kinki western region.

The Miyazaki town of Tsuno received 55.5 millimeters of rainfall in the one-hour period until 3:15 a.m.

A maximum instantaneous wind speed of 26.4 meters per second was recorded in the Miyazaki city of Nobeoka around 1:45 a.m.

The typhoon was heading northwest at sea some 50 kilometers northwest of the city of Fukuoka at a speed of 35 kilometers per hour as of 9 a.m.

At the time, the typhoon had a central atmospheric pressure of 1,004 hectopascals, with a maximum sustained wind speed of 18 meters per second and a maximum instantaneous wind speed of 25 meters per second.

In the 24 hours through noon Thursday, rainfall is seen reaching 150 millimeters in Shikoku, 100 millimeters in southern Kyushu and 80 millimeters in northern Kyushu and the Chugoku western region.

On Wednesday, a maximum instantaneous wind speed of 25 meters per second was expected in northern Kyushu, with projected waves of up to 4 meters. Jiji Press