With Tropical Storm Maria weakening on Tuesday after brushing Tohoku with record rainfall, attention is shifting to Tropical Storm Ampil, which is set to strengthen into a typhoon as it nears eastern Japan this weekend.
Maria weakened into a tropical depression in the early hours of Tuesday over the Sea of Japan, after making landfall Monday near the city of Ofunato, Iwate Prefecture, and moving over the Tohoku region. The Meteorological Agency has warned that the system could still bring heavy rainfall to the region through Wednesday.
At one point, the storm prompted Japan’s highest level emergency warning — which urges residents to take measures to protect their lives even if they cannot evacuate — in the city of Kuji, Iwate Prefecture.
Rainfall reached 481.5 millimeters in Kuji in the 48 hours until 4:50 p.m. and 319 millimeters in the town of Otsuchi in Iwate in the 48 hours until 8:20 p.m., record highs for the areas. Some homes in the town of Iwaizumi and the city of Kamaishi in the prefecture saw light flooding.
But as Maria weakened, a newly formed storm set its sights on eastern Japan.
Tropical Storm Ampil is forecast to strengthen into a typhoon — a level on par with a Category 1 hurricane — by at least Thursday.
While the exact track remains unclear, current projections show the storm nearing eastern Japan on Friday, while maintaining its typhoon strength. Depending on the exact course, the center of the storm could remain over water or make landfall in either Shizuoka, Kanagawa or Chiba prefectures.
From Friday into Saturday, the forecast shows the storm moving northeast, either over land or offshore in the Pacific.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the storm was moving east-northeast at 20 kph, with a central pressure of 990 hectopascals. It carried sustained winds of 90 kph and gusts of up to 126 kph.
On Friday, when Ampil is expected to near eastern Japan, the current forecast shows a much stronger storm, with a central pressure of 955 hectopascals, sustained winds of 144 kph and gusts of up to 216 kph.
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Son-tinh, well away from land in the Pacific, is forecast to weaken into a tropical depression by Wednesday. Tropical Storm Wukong, another newly developed system, is expected to weaken into a tropical depression by Thursday as it tracks north over the ocean.