Typhoon to Make Landfall in Japan on Weekend

July 29, 2018

Tokyo- Strong Typhoon Jongdari is forecast to make landfall somewhere between central and western Japan from Saturday night to early Sunday morning, the Japan Meteorological Agency said Friday.

The 12th typhoon of the year may rip through western Japan, hit hard by floods and mudslides following torrential rains earlier this month.

To prepare for a possible recurrence of such disasters, the government held a meeting of its disaster response task force at the prime minister's office.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe instructed relevant ministers to take every measure to protect residents from possible flooding and mudslides.

The typhoon traveled near the Ogasawara Islands, some 1,000 kilometers south of Tokyo, Friday night, the agency said.

Picking up speed, the typhoon is expected to move north and approach the Kanto eastern region, including Tokyo, Saturday afternoon.

Then it is seen changing course to head west, hitting the Tokai region of central Japan, the Kinki western region or the western island of Shikoku sometime between Saturday night and early Sunday morning.

After crossing western Japan, the typhoon is seen leaving the country from the coast of the northern part of the Kyushu southwestern region.

If it travels from east to west after hitting land, Jongdari will be the first typhoon to do this on record since 1951.

"Unlike normal typhoons that head east, Jongdari could cause a prolonged spell of heavy rains in its wake due to damp southerly winds, as well as spawning tornadoes and gusts," Ryuta Kurora, chief forecaster at the agency, told a press conference.

Mudslides and flooding could occur again in the rain-hit areas of western Japan, he said, stressing the importance of evacuating early.

At 10 p.m. Friday (1 p.m. GMT), the typhoon was traveling north-northeast about 280 kilometers east-northeast of Chichijima, an island in the Ogasawara chain, at 35 kilometers per hour. Its central atmospheric pressure stood at 965 hectopascals, with the maximum instantaneous wind speed reaching 55 meters per second. Jiji Press