Typhoon Lan bringing significant rain into Japan, heavy rain warnings issued

Good evening from the Western Pacific Weather team.

As Sunday evening rolls in, Typhoon Lan is making its presence known those living across western, central, and eastern Japan. Some locations are seeing sustained winds reported up to 60 kilometers per hour in western and central locations of the country. The system is weakening as it approaches Japan. The visible satellite imagery tells a lot about the inefficiency of the circulation as a clearly defined eye has been lost.

However, portions of the Tohoku region in northeastern Japan have now been included in various weather warnings, including heavy rain that may be ground-loosening. Others are also located within storm warnings as well.

Plenty of raining has been falling all throughout Japan, including Tokyo. The capital has seen 108 millimeters of precipitation since midnight, and the rainfall will only become progressively worse overnight.

The storm is slated to make landfall sometime after 3 a.m. Monday morning Japan time. By that point, the storm is expected to be weaker as a strong typhoon, but nevertheless, it will provide significant rainfall that can lead to flooding along with strong winds that could hit 50 knots or more as the system comes on shore. Public transportation and travel in general will be a serious issue for those located in the Greater Tokyo area Monday morning. Even those in the Tokai and Kinki regions will have some issues for the morning hours.

The storm will quickly move out of the country by Monday afternoon, bringing much improved conditions and possibly even clear skies progressing west to east during the later hours on Monday. However, northeastern areas of Japan will likely deal with strong winds, high waves, and rainfall through Monday evening and possibly into early Tuesday.

At this point, expect conditions to continue deteriorating into the overnight hours. Expect conditions to improve during the day Monday. Please be safe wherever you are.

Jonathan Oh
Meteorologist, Western Pacific Weather