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zichi - Typhoon Melor started as a CAT-5 Super Typhoon but is currently a CAT-4 storm currently located off Okinawa Japan and is expected to hit the mainland tomorrow.

JMA have issued weather warning for the area.

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zichi - Satellite image of Super Typhoon Melor

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A powerful typhoon barreled toward Japan on Tuesday, prompting warnings of strong winds and high waves just days after storms wreaked devastation in Southeast Asia. Typhoon Melor (Typhoon No. 18), packing gusts of up to 252 kilometers per hour, was bearing down on Minami Daito island in Japan’s far south and may hit the main island of Honshu on Thursday, the weather agency said.

The storm has winds of up to 180 kilometers per hour near its center, it said. “Minami Daito is expected to be hit by violent winds and rough seas with a sea swell of more than nine meters from late Tuesday to Wednesday noon,” an official at the agency said.

Melor may make landfall on Kii Peninsula in western Honshu on Thursday.

Typhoon Melor, a category 4 storm currently south of Okinawa and on a path that could take it over Tokyo by Thursday, according to the weather tracking website Tropical Storm Risk.

A category 4 storm can pack winds of between 211 and 250 kph.

12:12

zichi - Typhoon Melor appears to be moving further south and most likely will follow the coastline.

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Typhoon Melor track from Tropical Storm Risk

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Melor’s winds slowed to 222 kph from 241 kph earlier today. The storm was centered 512 kilometers southeast of Naha in Okinawa at 12 p.m. Tokyo time and was earlier moving northwest at 28 kph. Navy forecasters expect Melor, the 20th storm of the northwest Pacific cyclone season, to turn northeast and reach land west of Tokyo by 9 a.m. on Oct. 8.

The storm’s winds are forecast to weaken to 213 kph by 9 a.m. tomorrow.

The Japan Meteorological Agency issued warnings for high waves for Okinawa and southern parts of the southwestern island of Kyushu.

12:29

zichi - Most Japanese know the drill: keep a backpack near the door, filled with bottled water, dried or canned food, a first-aid kit, cash, clothes, a radio, a torch and lots of spare batteries. In disaster-prone Japan -- regularly shaken by earthquakes, dotted with more than 100 volcanoes and swept by typhoons every year -- living with the threat of death has always been a part of life.

12:35

zichi - Satellite image from JMA

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Melor, which means jasmine in Malay, may make landfall on Kii Peninsula in western Honshu on Thursday and rip through the archipelago on a course similar to a 1959 killer typhoon that left thousands dead in Japan, the official said.

The latest typhoon is unlikely to inflict devastation on such a scale because Japanese houses are now better built and coastal areas are equipped with storm surge barriers, he said.

But typhoons can still claim lives in Japan. In August Typhoon Etau brought flashfloods and landslides that killed at least 25 people.

12:42

zichi - Live Blog: Typhoon Melor, CAT-4 storm http://is.gd/40zPh

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Data supplied by the US Navy and Air Force Joint Typhoon Warning Center suggest that the point of landfall will be near 32.9 N, 135.8 E. Melor is expected to bring 1-minute maximum sustained winds to the region of around 185 km/h (114 mph). Wind gusts in the area may be considerably higher.

According to the Saffir-Simpson damage scale the potential property damage and flooding from a storm of Melor's strength (category 3) at landfall includes:

Storm surge generally 2.7-3.7 metres (9-12 feet) above normal.

Some structural damage to small residences and utility buildings with a minor amount of curtainwall failures.

Damage to shrubbery and trees with foliage blown off trees and large trees blown down.

Mobile homes and poorly constructed signs are destroyed.

Low-lying escape routes are cut by rising water 3-5 hours before arrival of the centre of the storm.

Flooding near the coast destroys smaller structures with larger structures damaged by battering from floating debris.

Terrain continuously lower than 1.5 metres (5 feet) above mean sea level may be flooded inland 13 km (8 miles) or more.

Evacuation of low-lying residences within several blocks of the shoreline may be required.

There is also the potential for flooding further inland due to heavy rain.

The information above is provided for guidance only and should not be used to make life or death decisions or decisions relating to property. Anyone in the region who is concerned for their personal safety or property should contact their official national weather agency or warning centre for advice.

1:02

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Japan readies for Typhoon Melor

Packing sustained winds of over 130 mph, Typhoon Melor continues its turn to the north as Japan prepares for a direct hit from the storm. Melor has weakened slightly over the last 24 hours but the latest forecast tracks put it on target for a direct strike on the island nation.

The massive storm, also known as "Quedan", is currently 260 miles southeast of Okinawa, Japan and moving to the north-northwest at 16 mph. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) reported the storm is currently packing sustained winds of 132 mph with wind gusts in excess of 160 mph making it the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane.

Source:Examiner

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Typhoon Melor has been slowly weakening from a dangerous category 5 storm and is now a category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale. Located approximately 300 nautical miles southeast of Okinawa, Japan with winds of 133 mph, Melor will begin to make a right turn to the northeast and track towards Japan’s southern Pacific coast with a projected landfall in the vicinity of Wakayama early Thursday morning as a category 2 storm with sustained winds of near 100 mph and then quickly weaken while sprinting northeastward.

“Unlike Parma for the Philippines, Melor will for the most part be a one day event on Thursday for Japan.” Swinden says. “Once over land, Melor will quickly weaken to tropical storm strength and sprint northeastward over Japan.”

Source:Your Story

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Threats & Damages for Japan

Along the southern coast of Japan expect flooding due to high battering waves and storm surge, possibly minor to moderate damage to structures due to hurricane force winds, especially near where the storm makes landfall, widespread flooding and mudslides due to heavy rains, minor to moderate damage to the infrastructure, and delays in both air and ground travel on Thursday.

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zichi - Japan's Meteorological Agency says that as of 10 PM on Tuesday, Japan Time, Typhoon Melor is moving north over waters 80 kilometers southwest of Minami Daitojima Island, Okinawa Prefecture, at a speed of 20 kilometers an hour.

The typhoon has a central pressure of 940 hectopascals, and is packing winds of 160 kilometers an hour at its center. It has momentary wind speeds of up to 216 kilometers per hour.

Winds of more than 90 kilometers an hour are blowing within a radius of 170 kilometers from its center.

The typhoon has already placed the Daitojima region in its storm zone on Tuesday evening, local time.
Wind speeds of 190 kilometers an hour have been recorded on Minami Daitojima Island. The island also observed rainfall of 30 millimeters over a one-hour period in the late evening.

The typhoon is expected to approach the Daitojima region before daybreak on Wednesday before changing its course eastward and approaching the Pacific coast of western and eastern Japan on Thursday.

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