Heavy rain may continue through Tuesday in northern, eastern Japan

TOKYO, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) — Japan’s weather agency warned that extremely heavy rain could continue through Tuesday in northern and eastern Japan, noting localized downpours are hitting parts of northern to western Japan on Monday.
According to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), atmospheric conditions are extremely unstable from northern through western Japan due to warm and damp air flowing into a rain front extending across the northern part of the country from the Sea of Japan.
The front is forecast to move southward and may bring extremely heavy localized downpours accompanied by thunder to northern and eastern Japan, the JMA said.
In the one hour through 10:40 a.m. local time on Monday, Kazuno City in Akita Prefecture saw 50 mm of rainfall.
In the 24 hours through Tuesday morning, rainfall could reach 120 mm in the Tohoku region, and 80 mm in the Hokkaido, Kanto-Koshin, Hokuriku and Tokai regions.
Previous storms, including Typhoon Shanshan, have brought record rainfall to parts of eastern and western Japan, causing the ground to be loosened.
The JMA urged people to be on heightened alert for landslides, flooding in low-lying areas, as well as swollen and overflowing rivers as even a small amount of rainfall could raise the risk of disasters. ■