Typhoon Etau slams into Japanese mainland

It should hit Tokyo and Chiba around 6pm tonight. Just in time for the evening peak hour. I hope your bosses are kind enough and sensible enough to let you get out of the office early.

my boss does not watch weather channels, he only watches working channels

There are two typhoons in the vicinity - Typhoon 18 & 17 (JMA numbering), or Typhoon Etau & Kilo. Wondering which one is which. I think Typhoon 18 is Typhoon Etau which I believe has just made landfall near Hamamatsu. Luckily, Tokyo is not in the path. To Hamamatsu & Nagoya residents, take care & be safe. Typhoon 17 which I think is Typhoon Kilo will come closest to Honshu around tomorrow Thu late afternoon, but will then hopefully make a sharp right away from us.

"Typhoon" 18 (Etau) was actually downgraded to a tropical storm a couple of days ago. I'm not sure why they Japan keeps it labeled as a typhoon.

Typhoon 17 (Kilo) though is really big and powerful and people should be careful in case it doesn't strongly veer northeast away from Japan like it is predicted.

Quite a cool storm really, it just appeared a few days ago and banzaid towards Japan at full pelt. Biblical rain here in Chubu, am rather enjoying it.

I appreciate the media coverage of these weather events, but wonder if it's really necessary to have a rain-gear clad reporter stand out in the middle of one and tell us it's windy and raining really hard?

wonder if it's really necessary to have a rain-gear clad reporter stand out in the middle of one and tell us it's windy and raining really hard?

It's a psychological thing -- makes the TV viewer feel happy that he's indoors watching the storm on TV and now obliged to earn his living getting soaked in front of a camera!

I wish Japan Today would use both the name and the JMA numbering of the typhoon.

Tracking the typhoon on RSOE shows a 4.5 Magnitude earthquake in Shizuoka. Location Yaizu.

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php#

In Osaka the warning -- not strong wind or heavy rain warning, just the regular, orange/yellow warning -- was lifted, making it the ONLY prefecture in Japan that didn't even have any warnings whatsoever (one area of Hokkaido followed soon after), and it has been sunny with no wind for most of the afternoon. Pretty good considering last night we were warned there would be more than 300 ml of rain and likely all sorts of cancellations. Pretty bad only in that I was hoping I could sleep in. But, glad there is no damage or flooding. Please take care for those in the storm's path, people.

In Nagoya it rained all night and into early morning, but it was a straight-down rain - I had my windows open overnight, nothing got rained on. The rain had stopped and the wind had picked up a wee bit by mid-morning, and by noon it was clear and then sunny. As typhoons go, we in the city got off very lightly. I hope those in more vulnerable areas recover soon.

"Typhoon" 18 (Etau) was actually downgraded to a tropical storm a couple of days ago. I'm not sure why they Japan keeps it labeled as a typhoon.

One needs to understand Japanese to understand this. A tropical storm is a typhoon in Japanese. English makes a different classification.

It is still a typhoon, but it does not have "bofu" force winds which are over 25 m/s.

Here in Japan they call every big storm a typhoon..

Wow, just my luck I am down in Okinawa for work and a couple days kinda off, yesterday & today blue skies, almost like a real holiday, sad I gotta fly back on Thu but I have stocked up on Awamori so feeling pretty ...........mellow right now!

Here in Japan they call every big storm a typhoon..

No they do not. A typhoon has a specific definition and just because in Japanese doesnt have the same vocabulary as English does not mean that a tropical storm is not a typhoon.

a tropical storm is not a typhoon

A tropical storm is not a typhoon, but a taifu can be either of the two.

Such a bunch of exageration. The typhoon came up Chita Peninsula where I live. I drove to work getting onto the highway at 9:55am (5 mins before it hit land supposedly). The highway was open, trains were running, and it wasn't even raining. Yes, there was a good amount of rain during the night, but this is over-reported and over-exagerated.

this is over-reported and over-exagerated

There's always one, isn't there....

Where I am it has been raining, sometimes hard, sometimes very hard, occasionally very hard indeed, almost continuously for the past 30 hours or so, and we are promised more of the same at least until lunchtime tomorrow. Disrupted train services meant that hubby was three hours later than usual getting home, and the roads are like rivers. I haven't ventured out to see what the rivers are like. Thankfully there have been no power cuts, but not everyone can say the same.

@StevoBevo You are quite obviously, simply WRONG.