The Japan Meteorological Agency on Sept. 17 called for the highest level of caution, warning that a large and powerful typhoon approaching southern islands could cause unprecedented strong winds to a large part of Japan.
At the 11 a.m. news conference, a special warning may be issued for the evening, citing fierce winds, large waves and high tide surges for the Kagoshima Prefecture and the northern Kyushu region as well as a special warning for heavy rain on the southern main island of Kyushu.
The danger level for flooding and landslides could be raised by linear rainbands hitting the Amami islands of Kagoshima and southern Kyushu from the evening of Sept. 17 through the following morning.
If a special warning for Kyushu is issued, it would be the first for the region due to a typhoon. Special warnings were issued for Miyakojima island and the main Okinawa island in 2014, and again for the Okinawa region two years later.
As of 10 a.m. on Sept. 17, the 14th Typhoon of the season was located about 180 kilometers east of Okinawa Prefecture's Minami-Daitojima island and moving in a northwest direction of around 20 kph.
It had a central pressure of 910 hectopascals, with maximum sustained winds of 198 kph near its centre and maximum instantaneous gusts of 270 kph. Winds of more than 90 kph were blowing within an area 185 km east and 150 km west of the typhoon center.
The typhoon will bring pounding rain to the Pacific side of a large part of Japan. For the 24 hour period to 6 a.m. on Sept. 18, the JMA forecasts to include as much as 400 millimeters for southern Kyushu, 300 mm for the Shikoku and Tokai regions, 250 mm for the Amami islands, 200 mm for Okinawa, northern Kyushu and Kinki regions and 120 mm for the Kanto-Koshin region.
For Sept. 17, the JMA forecast maximum sustained winds of 108 kph for Okinawa and the Amami islands and 90 kph for southern Kyushu.
For Sept. 18, the forecast was for maximum sustained winds of 162 kph for southern Kyushu and the Amami islands as well as northern Kyushu, 90 kph for Shikoku, 82.8 kph for the Chugoku region and 72 kph for Okinawa.
Winds in excess of 72 kph make driving difficult. Wooden homes can collapse when winds exceed 144 kph.
The Typhoon was forecast to continue moving in a northerly direction toward Kyushu through Sept. 19 and could make landfall. It will gradually turn east and cut through the main Honshu island.