Tropical Storm Etau to Unleash up to Two Feet of Flooding Rain in Japan

By Eric Leister, Meteorologist

September 8,2015; 11:15PM,EDT

 

 

While Typhoon Kilo will narrowly miss Japan, Tropical Storm Etau is already bringing flooding rain to parts of the country.
Tropical Storm Etau formed south of Japan over the weekend and has become better organized as it moved northward early this week.
Etau will track generally north to northwest bringing the tropical system into Japan with landfall expected on Wednesday; however, moisture from Etau is already being pulled northward into Japan.
Some locations have already received more than 300 mm (12 inches) of rain with more heavy rainfall expected through Thursday.

As tropical moisture flows to the north into Japan, rounds of heavy rain will fall through at least Thursday. Lighter rain will linger through the rest of the week though the threat for flooding will have ended.
A zone across central and southern Honshu is expected to see the heaviest rainfall and greatest flooding threat. Tokyo, Nagoya, Hamamatsu and Shizuoka are all included in this zone of highest risk. Additional rainfall through Thursday is expected to be near 100-200 mm (4-8 inches) with localized amounts over 300 mm (12 inches)
This amount of rainfall on top of the 100-200 mm (4-8 inches) of rain that has already fallen in many areas will result in widespread flooding.

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A zone along the southeastern coast of Honshu will get the heaviest rainfall and most widespread flooding, generally from south of Tokyo to Osaka. These areas are the most likely to receive 150-300 mm (6-12 inches) of rain through Thursday. Even higher rain amounts are possible in isolated areas. As all of this water rushes off the mountainous terrain, flooding will become a significant concern as well as the threat of mudslides.
While AccuWeather meteorologists think that Etau will make landfall in Japan on Wednesday as a tropical storm, wind damage will be a much lower concern than flooding. Any wind damage would be confined to areas near the center of the storm, most likely over Kansai and Tokai regions of Honshu where isolated wind gusts over 85 km/h (50 mph) are possible.
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Rainfall during the second half of the week is expected to lessen across much of Japan, though additional rainfall could still lead to isolated flooding problems in northern Honshu on Friday.
While Etau will make landfall in Japan, Typhoon Kilo will approach Japan before turning northward from Friday into the weekend. This track will take Kilo close enough to Hokkaido that the outer bands of the storm could bring downpours to eastern Hokkaido.
Residents along the western Pacific Ocean should be on the watch for additional tropical threat through the fall, according to AccuWeather's Fall Forecast for Asia.
Meteorologist Adam Douty contributed to this story.