Extremely heavy rain over parts of southwestern Japan

A stationary front near the Tsushima Strait is dropping extremely heavy rains on parts of western Japan on August 12, 2021, forcing authorities to issue warnings and evacuation orders.

Officials are calling on residents to be on alert and stay safe as a linear band of rain clouds is rising the risk of life-threatening floods and landslides.¹

The town of Nagomi in Kumamoto Prefecture issued a level-5 warning after a local river overflowed its banks. Level-5 warning was also issued in Kokonoe in Oita Prefecture.

Until 12:00 LT (03:00 UTC) on August 12, Satsuma in Kagoshima Prefecture received 234.5 mm (9.2 inches), Ebino in Miyazaki 216.5 mm (8.5 inches), Sawara Ward in Fukuoka 215.5 mm (8.4 inches), Nagasaki 210 mm (8.26 inches), and Shimabara in Nagasaki 208.5 mm (8.20 inches).²

The northern Kyushu region and nearby Yamaguchi Prefecture are feared to receive localized torrential rain of 50 to 60 mm (1.9 – 2.3 inches) of rain per hour through August 13.

Heavy rain is likely to continue hitting many areas from August 14 onwards with the maximum 24-hour period to 06:00 LT on August 14 is between 200 and 300 mm (7.8 – 11.8 inches) in Kyushu, Shikoku, Kinki and Tokai, as well as in the Kanto-Koshin region that includes the greater Tokyo area.

Precipitation over Japan at 09:20 UTC (18:20 JST) on August 12, 2021. Credit: JMA

References

1 Heavy rain warnings issued for Fukuoka, Kumamoto – NHK

2 Evacuation orders issued for parts of Kyushu due to torrential rain, landslide risks – The Mainichi

Featured image credit: JMA