Typhoon Lan makes landfall in Japan with life-threatening rain and wind

Life-threatening rain and wind from Typhoon Lan will last into Monday in Japan.

Lan made landfall in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, as a typhoon on Sunday night.

Lan formed last weekend in the Philippine Sea between the Mariana Islands and the Philippines, before becoming a typhoon on Wednesday.

Typhoon Lan reached the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane in the Atlantic and eastern Pacific oceans on Friday with 1-minute sustained winds of 250 km/h (155 mph).

A track over very warm water and through favorable winds allowed the cyclone to become a powerful typhoon.

While Lan has weakened from this peak intensity, it remained a dangerous typhoon as it moved across Japan during Monday.

The sheer enormity of the storm will cause significant impacts for areas that are well removed from the center of the storm.

Rain totals of 125-250 mm (5-10 inches) are expected across Shikoku and Honshu as tropical moisture fuels heavy rainfall. Locally heavier rainfall is likely with over 500 mm (20 inches) in some areas.

Owase has already been inundated with 630 mm (24.81 inches) of rain since Friday; 341 mm (13.43 inches) fell on Sunday alone.

In Tokyo, 162 mm (6.40 inches) of rain fell over the weekend, while 169 mm (6.65 inches) soaked Osaka.

Rain will not be the only life-threatening aspect of the typhoon as damaging winds sweep across the country as well.

Wind gusts near the point of landfall are expected to be 160-195 km/h (100-120 mph) which will cause power outages and some structural damage. Across a large portion of central Japan, wind gusts of 95-130 km/h (60-80 mph) are expected. This includes Tokyo and Osaka.

As of Sunday night, local time, gusts had reached 82 km/h (51 mph) in the city of Tokyo and 108 km/h (67 mph) at the airport. As the center of the storm passed very close to the city, gusts climbed into Monday morning.

In addition to flooding rainfall and destructive winds, coastal inundation is expected along the southern coast of Honshu due to a storm surge of 1.5-3.0 meters (5-10 feet). Rough seas will also cause dangerous boating conditions around the entire country.

As Lan pushes farther to the north on Monday, rain and wind will taper off across southern and central Honshu, but potentially flooding rain and damaging winds will shift into northern Honshu and eastern Hokkaido.

Windy conditions will linger in Tokyo even after the rain ends, which may cause delays to travel through the air and on the ground. Rough seas may also delay ferry service.

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