Typhoon Hagibis, a dangerous storm on par with a Category 5 hurricane, is approaching Japan’s main island of Honshu after a rapid and explosive intensification in the Pacific according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.  Landfall is forecasted for this weekend and could make a direct pass over Tokyo.

However, its large size means that even without a direct hit, Tokyo and surrounding areas could still be significantly impacted with heavy rain, very strong winds, high waves and storm surge.  As of Wednesday afternoon, the Meteorological Agency described the storm as “violent” — its highest classification — adding that the storm had sustained winds of 198 kph.

I had earlier registered my Japan residency with the U.S. Tokyo Embassy and was pleased to receive an e-mail weather alert with advisory actions to take this weekend.

Also very helpful was information that the Japan Meteorological Service’s typhoon tracking information could be found in English at webpage:  http://www.jma.go.jp/en/typh/ and is also available from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center at http://www.metoc.navy.mil/jtwc/jtwc.html.

In visiting the Meteorological site I discovered that it also includes information on other weather and environmental related events as well as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.