Typhoon Malakas, equivalent of a Category 3 tropical cyclone, will landfall in southwest Japan Monday.

Typhoon Malakas Skirts Taiwan, Heads Towards Japan

Typhoon Malakas passes Taiwan and is making it's way towards mainland Japan. 

Story Highlights

Typhoon Malakas, equivalent of a Category 3 tropical cyclone, will landfall in southwest Japan Monday.

Damaging winds will spread into Kyushu and Shikoku Monday into Tuesday.

Malakas will be a heavy rain and flooding threat for Japan through late Tuesday or early Wednesday (Japan time).

Typhoon Malakas will landfall in southwest Japan Monday spreading damaging winds and heavy rainfall eastward over parts of southern Japan into Tuesday.

The center of Malakas is nearing the Japanese island of Kyushu, currently the equivalent of a Category 3 tropical cyclone, as of Monday evening, local time. (Japan is 13 hours ahead of U.S. Eastern daylight time.)

Current Storm Info

Warnings for this damaging wind potential, heavy rain and flooding potential have been issued by the Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA).

Wind gusts topping 50 mph have already been measured in Kagoshima Prefecture, and will only increase as the eyewall of Malakas heads ashore.

(MORE: Typhoon Alley: Where The Most Intense Tropical Cyclones Most Frequently Occur)

Current Winds

Damaging winds are likely for portions of Kyushu and Shikoku islands, and winds in a very localized area near where Malakas makes landfall and in mountainous terrain in southern Kyushu Island could be as high as 120 mph. 

Wind Speed Probability for Winds Greater than 74 mph.

Malakas will impact Kyushu in southern mainland Japan late Monday evening and continue to interact with Shikoku and much of southern Japan Tuesday (local time), but is expected to be weakening with time. 

Projected Path and Intensity

The most widespread impact in mainland Japan will be heavy rainfall and flooding. Over 12 inches of rain has already been tallied at Tokorono, in Okinawa Prefecture over 48-hours as of early Monday, according to the Japan Meteorological Agency.

Additional amounts of 5-12 inches are expected through early Wednesday in southern and central Japan, with locally higher amounts in mountainous terrain.

Mudslides and landslides are possible in and around the higher terrain of the southern and central Japan.

Rainfall Forecast

The center of Malakas is expected to pass near Tokyo early Wednesday as a weakening tropical storm or tropical depression on Wednesday morning. Heavy rainfall is expected. 

Malakas Impact on Taiwan and Japan's Ryukyu Islands

Wind gusts were reported up to 59 mph on an elevated station at Lanyu, Taiwan, and 38 mph in Hualien province in eastern Taiwan on Saturday morning Taiwan time.  

In Japan, wind gusts up to 100 mph were reported in Yonagunijima where the eye directly passed overhead. Gusts to 60 mph were reported in Ishigaki in the far southern Ryukyu Islands early Saturday.