Another powerful typhoon forecast to hit Japan on Tuesday

   Powerful Typhoon Lionrock is forecast to hit eastern to northern Japan on Tuesday, bringing heavy rains and strong winds to a wide area of the country, the Japan Meteorological Agency says.

The typhoon, strengthening its force while hovering in the Pacific Ocean for several days, was moving east-northeast at 15 kilometers per hour about 370 km southeast of Minami Daito Island in Okinawa Prefecture as of Sunday morning, packing winds of up to 216 kph with an atmospheric pressure of 945 hectopascals near its center.

The season’s 10th typhoon is expected to move northeast on Monday, then turn toward the northwest and likely approach Japan’s largest main island of Honshu on Tuesday, the weather agency said.


Although the typhoon’s strength is expected to peak out around Sunday, it may approach or make landfall on eastern to northern Japan with greater strength than three typhoons that caused damage across the country in August, the agency added.

Due to the approaching storm, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is now in Nairobi to attend a Japan-led African development conference, decided to return to Tokyo late Monday night, ahead of the initial schedule of Tuesday morning.

The Tokyo metropolitan area was hit by Typhoon Mindulle earlier this week, which disrupted traffic and caused one death and dozens of injuries