Aug 11 (NHK) - An increasingly active front and highly developed rain clouds are triggering intermittent downpours in Japan's southwestern region of Kyushu. Heavy thundershowers may hit western Japan between Wednesday and Friday.
The Japan Meteorological Agency is urging people to be cautious of landslides and flooding in low-lying areas.
The agency says warm, humid air is flowing in from the south of Japan toward a front which extends from China to near the Kyushu region. They say highly developed rainclouds are flowing intermittently into Kyushu.
Radar analysis shows that 30 millimeters of rain fell around the city of Takeo in Saga Prefecture, southern Japan, in the hour to 11 a.m. on Wednesday.
The front is expected to gradually extend eastward.
Maximum rainfall forecast in the 24 hours until noon Thursday is 200 millimeters in northern Kyushu, 180 millimeters in southern Kyushu and 120 millimeters in Shikoku.
The front is expected to linger around Japan until next week. More rain is expected in western Japan, and heavy rains may also fall in eastern and northern Japan.
Forecasters are urging people to confirm where and how to evacuate, and prepare early for possible disasters.
In eastern Japan, high temperatures are continuing on Wednesday. Daytime highs are expected to reach 36 degrees Celsius in parts of Yamanashi and Saitama prefectures neighboring Tokyo, and 35 degrees in central Tokyo.
