Malakas may bring another round of dangerous flooding to Japan after sideswiping Taiwan

By Kristina Pydynowski, Senior Meteorologist

September 16,2016; 9:30PM,EDT

 

Typhoon Malakas could bring another round of dangerous flooding to Japan next week after delivering a glancing blow to Taiwan early this weekend.
Malakas will spare the areas hit hardest by once-Super Typhoon Meranti. Instead, Malakas will stay on a track farther north, passing just east of Taiwan.
The typhoon will track over or dangerously close to Japan's southwesternmost island of Yonaguni on Saturday morning local time. The system will unleash destructive winds, life-threatening flooding rain and inundating surf.
Malakas will be equivalent to a Category 3 hurricane as it makes its closest approach to Taiwan and Yonaguni.

Malakas will likely intensify into the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane for a time before reaching Yonaguni but will fall short of following in the footsteps of Meranti and becoming a super typhoon.
"Typhoon Malakas is expected to affect the eastern and northern part of Taiwan into Saturday with rain and wind," AccuWeather Meteorologist Rob Richards said.
Dangerous seas will also build, leading to coastal flooding.
While the heaviest rain and wind will remain offshore, the typhoon will track close enough to produce wind gusts of 65-95 km/h (40-60 mph) in northeastern Taiwan, including Taipei. Sporadic tree damage and power outages may result, along with minor damage to weak structures.
RELATED:
Western Pacific typhoon center
Taiwan weather center
Japan weather center
The northeastern tip of Taiwan will be at risk for more widespread power outages and damage as gusts of 95-130 km/h (60-80 mph) buffet the coast.
Flooding and mudslides will also endanger lives and property in northern Taiwan. Richards anticipates rainfall to total 75-150 mm (3-6 inches).
The heaviest rain will target the west-facing slopes of the northern mountains after Malakas passes by to the north.

Conditions across Taiwan will improve later this weekend as Malakas begins to steer away from China and takes aim at Japan.
Despite being past its peak intensity, Malakas is likely to be the equivalent to a Category 1 hurricane when it slams into Japan's Kyushu Island or northernmost Ryukyu Islands around Tuesday.
Residents should begin the necessary preparations to protect lives and property in advance of Malakas and heed any evacuation orders that get issued.
Malakas should then track across southern Japan, gradually weakening and losing its tropical characteristics.
While the risk of damaging winds and an inundating storm surge will be higher across western Japan than eastern Honshu, Malakas will produce torrential rainfall across Japan, including Osaka and Tokyo.
The rain from Malakas alone threatens to trigger flooding and mudslides, but the risk will be exacerbated by the rounds of downpours preceding the typhoon.
Meranti, now a tropical rainstorm, will spread the initial band of heavy rain from southern South Korea on Saturday to northern and western Honshu and northern Kyushu during the second half of the weekend.

More downpours will follow across western and southern Japan on Monday before Malakas arrives.
From Saturday night to the time Malakas departs by late next week, the potential exists for widespread rain totals of 150-300 mm (6-12 inches) from southern and central Kyushu to central Honshu.
That will fall on top of soil that has already been oversaturated during the second half of summer, especially in eastern Japan.
Tokyo's International Airport has received nearly three times the normal rainfall of 137 mm (5.41 inches) from 1 August to 15 September.