Typhoon Haiyan was on course to drench the Izu islands Thursday as it traveled east-northeast south of Hachijo Island, roughly 300 km south of Tokyo, the Meteorological Agency said.

As of 3 p.m., the season's 21st typhoon was traveling at about 55 km per hour some 70 km south-southwest of the island. The atmospheric pressure at its center was 990 hectopascals, with maximum wind speed of 82.8 kph.

Meteorologists expected the Izu Islands to receive up to 100 mm of rain by the end of the day, when the storm was expected to turn into an extratropical cyclone.

Haiyan is Chinese for petrel.