Powerful typhoon Noul sideswipes southwest Japan, strong storm expected

A powerful typhoon lashed Japan's southernmost Okinawa Prefecture on its way towards the mainland having sideswiped the Amami region of Kagoshima Prefecture, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said Tuesday.

The JMA said that as of 1:00 p.m. Tuesday, the center of the typhoon, named Noul, was in the region of 140 kilometers south of Tanegashima Island, with the tropical storm heading in a northeasterly direction at a speed of 65 km per hour.

The JMA said the typhoon's speed has been consistent since Tuesday morning and is causing winds of up to 126 km per hour.

The agency has warned of heavy downpours and strong gusts around Amami-Oshima Island, with heavy rain and strong winds also affecting both coasts of Japan as the typhoon progresses on Wednesday, despite it possibly being downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical depression before Wednesday morning.

The JMA also said that the effects of the typhoon were being compounded by heavy rain being caused by a separate area of low atmospheric pressure currently over the Sea of Japan.

On its way to Japan, typhoon Noul battered the Philippines causing two fatalities, according to local reports, and the JMA said it is currently tracking another weather system that is also headed for the Philippines along the same corridor as Noul and has been called "Dolphin".

The agency has warned there is a strong likelihood that Dolphin, which is currently a tropical storm, will intensify to typhoon status and follow the same corridor from the Philippines and travel up through Japan's southern islands at some point next week. Endi