Evacuations started ahead of expected Tuesday landfall as Typhoon Jebi bears down on Japan

Sputnik
Sun, 02 Sep 2018 23:00 UTC

© Associated Press / NASA Goddard MODIS Rapid Response

Typhoon Jebi

'Very strong' Pacific Ocean Typhoon Jebi is slated to make landfall near Honshu, Japan, on Tuesday as preparations are ongoing to protect lives and property ahead of the event.

Weather officials in Japan have issued flood as well as landslide and high-wave warnings to areas of Japan devastated by deadly flooding earlier this year.

The 21st named storm of the Pacific Ocean's 2018 severe weather season, Typhoon Jebi has diminished marginally over the past 24 hours as it moves over slightly cooler water but is still seeing powerful winds up to 252 kph (156 mph) and barometric pressure readings of 935 Millibars, according to Japan's Meteorological Agency.

No further lessening of the storm's power is predicted and a landfall on Honshu is expected for early Tuesday, the agency said, cited by The Japan Times.

"Maintaining its very strong power, the typhoon is forecast to approach western and eastern Japan," the agency noted.

Record July rainfall saw flooding and landslides that killed some 220 in the Chugoku region - including the Hiroshima, Okayama, Shimane, Tottori, and Yamaguchi prefectures - in Japan's worst weather disaster in many years. The same area will soon bear the brunt of Jebi's onslaught.

Considered by many meteorologists to be the strongest Pacific storm of the season to date, Jebi is still several hundreds of kilometers south of Japan but is churning northward at some 16 mph, according to Accuweather.

Residents in the affected regions have been urged by the Meteorological Agency to prepare for dangerously high waves and heavy flooding that could cause more landslides in already-soaked areas.

About 27,000 people in Nagato, Yamaguchi Prefecture, were evacuated Saturday after an unrelated torrential rainstorm caused flooding in the region.

Comment: More from Sputnik:

Earth's most powerful storm of 2018 has spun up to a walloping Category 5 Pacific Ocean typhoon and is headed straight for Japan.

While little or no fanfare has attended the Atlantic Ocean 2018 storm season - although last year was a killer - the Pacific Ocean is making up for any perceived shortfalls of meteorological terror by providing a whopping 14 named storms to date and is now offering the newly-minted Typhoon Jebi to bring heavy rain and powerful winds to an already deluged Japan.

Jebi, on track to hit Japan early next week, is currently blasting along at 16 mph and sporting howling winds of 170 mph and up.

Born east of Guam on or about August 27, Typhoon Jebi rapidly intensified over just 48 hours from a respectable Category 1 storm into a full-blown Category 5 event by Thursday.

By calculating Jebi's maximum wind speed and central pressure levels, Colorado State University tropical storm expert Philip Klotzbach suggested that the Cat 5 monster is now Earth's strongest storm of 2018, according to Gizmodo.

Right now Jebi is about 300 miles northwest of Saipan, moving northwest, but computer models agree that the storm will veer northward early next week, placing it on a direct course for Kyoto, Japan.