Typhoon expected to come close to Kanto-Koshin region

Typhoon Malakas is likely to come close to the Kanto-Koshin region that includes Tokyo sometime between the night of Sept. 20 and the early hours of Sept. 21, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said.

The agency has warned of floods, landslides, high river levels, lightning and gusts of wind including tornadoes in areas in the path of the typhoon, this year's 16th.

As of 4 p.m. on Sept. 20 the typhoon was situated around Tsu, Mie Prefecture, and moving east-northeast at about 50 kilometers per hour, according to the JMA. The atmospheric pressure at its center was 985 hectopascals and it was packing winds up to 25 meters per second, or 90 kilometers per hour. The typhoon is expected to be downgraded to an extratropical cyclone by around 9 a.m. on Sept. 21.

The typhoon is feared to bring up to 150 millimeters of rain over the 24-hour period ending 6 p.m. on Sept. 21 to the Izu Islands, south of Tokyo, and 100 millimeters in the Kanto-Koshin region. Some areas are expected to see 50 millimeters of rain per hour, accompanied by thunder.