Typhoon Chan-hom Makes Landfall near Tokyo

Tokyo, Aug. 11 (Jiji Press)–Typhoon Chan-hom made landfall in the eastern Japan prefecture of Ibaraki, near Tokyo, around 8 p.m. Tuesday, traveling in an unusual direction from east to west. The Japan Meteorological Agency said this was the first typhoon landfall in the prefecture since it began taking such data in 1951. Winds and rain intensified in coastal areas of the Kanto region, including Ibaraki and Tokyo, and the Tohoku northeastern region. The agency called for caution against violent winds, high waves and heavy rain. After the landfall, the typhoon is expected to cross the Honshu main island westward and turn into a tropical cyclone before reaching the sea off the coast of the Sanin region in western Japan on Wednesday afternoon. At 7 p.m. Tuesday, the 15th typhoon of the year was traveling west-southwest at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour over the sea about 60 km northeast of Choshi, Chiba Prefecture, which neighbors Ibaraki, according to the agency. With a central atmospheric pressure of 980 hectopascals, the typhoon recorded a maximum wind speed of 25 meters per second and a maximum instantaneous wind speed of 35 meters per second. Around 6 p.m., maximum instantaneous wind speeds of 29.3 meters per second were recorded in Kitaibaraki, Ibaraki, and 23 meters per second in Hachinohe, an Aomori Prefecture city in Tohoku. In Kuji, an Iwate Prefecture city also in Tohoku, 132 millimeters of rain fell during the 12 hours to 6:30 p.m. Flights were canceled at Haneda and Narita airports in Tokyo and Chiba. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]