Typhoon Ampil was moving past eastern Japan Friday as a “very strong” storm — on par with a Category 2 hurricane — bringing heavy winds and torrential rain to a wide area.
Level 4 evacuation orders were issued in the Chiba Prefecture cities of Mobara and Asahi, as well as in the city of Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture. Level 3 advisories, encouraging the elderly and those with disabilities to evacuate, were issued in various cities in Tokyo, Chiba, Kanagawa, Ibaraki and Fukushima prefectures. Sporadic power outages were also being reported around the Kanto region.
The storm, referred to as Typhoon No. 7 by the weather agency, has also disrupted transportation networks during a peak holiday travel period, with some railway services, including the bullet train line connecting Tokyo and Nagoya, having decided in advance to suspend or cut back services. Hundreds of flights have been canceled, and some expressways may face closures.
While the storm is not forecast to make landfall, it will impact the Kanto-Koshin, Tohoku and Tokai regions on Friday at its peak intensity, with the weather agency warning of fierce winds, high waves, landslides and flooding.
As of 4 p.m. Friday, Typhoon Ampil, categorized by the weather agency as “very strong,” was about 170 km south-southeast of the city of Choshi, Chiba Prefecture, moving north-northeast at 15 kph. It had a central atmospheric pressure of 950 hectopascals, with maximum sustained winds at its center of 162 kph and gusts of up to 216 kph. The storm is forecast to strengthen further on Friday as it moves closer to the coast of Chiba Prefecture.
The storm is set strengthen even further as it tracks north-northeast off the coast of Chiba overnight, before curving further out to sea later on Saturday. At 3 a.m. Saturday, the storm’s central pressure is set to drop to 940 hectopascals, with maximum sustained winds at its center remaining at 162 kph but maximum gusts increasing to 234 kph. The storm will gradually weaken throughout Saturday, but it is set to remain at typhoon strength through Sunday as moves further from Honshu.
As Japan approaches the end of the Bon summer holiday, Ampil is wreaking havoc on transportation networks, stranding travelers returning home. Over 900 flights have been canceled to and from Narita and Haneda airports, according to an NHK tally. The Tokaido Shinkansen has been suspended for the entire day between Tokyo and Nagoya, while services on the Tohoku, Yamagata, and Joetsu shinkansen lines have been scaled back, according to JR East.
Local lines across the Kanto region are also heavily affected, with many suspended and others facing significant delays. Tokyo Metro has announced planned suspensions on the Tozai Line, halting services between Toyocho and Nishi-Funabashi stations from 10:30 a.m. until late evening. The segment between Nakano and Toyocho stations will operate with reduced frequency.
The Ueno-Tokyo Line has suspended most services for the day, while the Joban and Joban Rapid lines have partially suspended operations between Ueno and Shinagawa. On the Sobu Rapid and Keiyo lines, trains running directly from Chiba Prefecture have been canceled. The Yurikamome Line, which connects Shimbashi to Toyosu via Odaiba, also reduced its services from 5 p.m.
The Shonan-Shinjuku Line is also facing severe disruptions, with services suspended all day between Odawara in Kanagawa Prefecture and Takasaki in Gunma Prefecture. Additional cancellations include operations between Zushi in Kanagawa Prefecture and Utsunomiya in Tochigi Prefecture.
JR East is also experiencing cancellations on some of its express services, including the Narita Express.
Meanwhile, department stores in Chiba Prefecture, such as Sogo and Ito-Yokado, have announced that they will close temporarily due to the typhoon. Tokyo Disneyland and DisneySea, which are located in Chiba Prefecture, closed at 3 p.m.
Robert Speta, a meteorologist and typhoon expert, said the storm’s track means Japan is avoiding a worst-case scenario, noting that the most dangerous winds are limited to a very small inner core.
“Even the difference of a few kilometers from the eyewall could be the difference between 150 kph or 50 kph,” Speta said, describing the storm’s wind speeds. “Thus that destructive inner core staying offshore makes a massive difference.”
But Speta warned that areas along the coast could still see damaging winds, noting that if the storm veers even slightly to the west of its current track, more areas could see damaging winds.
“The way I like to describe a storm that is skirting the coast like this is imagine you are standing on the side of a highway as semitrucks are flying by at over 100 kph,” Speta said. “You are more or less ‘safe’ as long as the truck stays on the road. But if it changes course even just a little bit toward the curb where you are standing, it can make all the difference in those impacts.”