Typhoon May Make Landfall in Kanto Eastern Japan

August 8, 2018

Tokyo- Strong Typhoon Shanshan is forecast to make landfall in the Kanto eastern Japan region, including Tokyo, or move north near the coastal areas of Kanto and the Tohoku northeastern region from Wednesday night to Thursday morning, the Japan Meteorological Agency said Tuesday.

With a front existing on the north side of the 13th typhoon of the year, the agency called for strong caution against heavy rain, strong winds and high waves in Kanto, the Koshin central region and the Pacific side of Tohoku, even before the approach of the tropical cyclone.

As of 3 p.m. Tuesday (6 a.m. GMT), the typhoon was traveling north-northwest at sea some 440 kilometers east-southeast of Hachijojima, one of the Izu Islands in the Pacific off Tokyo, at a speed of some 20 kilometers per hour, with a central pressure of 970 hectopascals, the maximum sustained wind speed of 35 meters per second and the maximum instantaneous wind speed of 50 meters per second.

As Typhoon Shanshan is moving slowly, heavy rain is expected to last long, the agency said, warning against sediment disasters, swelling and flooding of rivers, and inundation of low-lying areas.

"We want residents in areas to be possibly affected to evacuate early, following advisories from relevant local authorities," Yushi Adachi, a forecaster of the agency, said.

In the Tokyo metropolitan area, transport services could be disrupted on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

The typhoon is highly likely to move away from Japan by Friday morning after traveling northeast off the Sanriku coastal area in Tohoku on Friday, according to the agency.

In the 24 hours until 6 p.m. Wednesday, Kanto and Koshin are expected to have up to 150 millimeters of rainfall, the Izu Islands up to 100 millimeters and Tohoku 80 millimeters.

Until 6 p.m. Thursday, the amount of rainfall is seen reaching up to 300-400 millimeters in Kanto and Koshin, 200-300 millimeters in Tohoku, 100-150 millimeters in the Hokuriku central region, and 50-100 millimeters in the Tokai central region and the northernmost prefecture of Hokkaido. Jiji Press