Strong typhoon forecast to influence southern Korea on Sunday

A strong typhoon is expected to reach waters off the southern and eastern parts of South Korea on Sunday after landing on the southwestern Japanese main island of Kyushu, bringing strong winds and heavy rains, the weather authorities said Friday.

Typhoon Noru, the season's fifth typhoon, was heading west in a sea about 450 km east-northeast of the southern Japanese island prefecture of Okinawa as of 9:00 a.m. It had winds with a maximum velocity of 72 kilometers per hour and an atmospheric pressure of 955 hectopascals near its center, the Korea Meteorological Administration said.

The typhoon's westward advance toward the Korean Peninsula has been more delayed than expected as it was led by an upper-level trough passing through the Japanese region, likely making the typhoon go up to Kyushu without joining a high-level trough that is moving south to the peninsula.

This image, provided by the Korea Meteorological Administration on Aug. 4, 2017, shows the course that Typhoon Noru, the season`s fifth typhoon, is expected to take skirting the Korean Peninsula. (Yonhap)

Although the typhoon is expected to skirt the peninsula, there is a chance that South Korea's southern and eastern coastal areas will be inundated by heavy rains, the agency said.

On Sunday afternoon, a trough passing the northern part of the country, coupled with constant inflows of water vapor, will likely bring heavy rains to Seoul and the central region. The east coastal region is expected to receive heavy rains on Monday through Tuesday.

The precipitation is expected to reach up to 50 millimeters over the 24-hour period in the central region and 20 mm in the southern region when they are approached by the typhoon.

Chances are high that the typhoon, which formed in the sea 1,950 kilometers east-southeast of Tokyo on July 21, will become this year's first one to directly hit Jeju Island, the weather agency said.

The weather agency said earlier that South Korea will likely be affected by about two typhoons this summer, the same as in the average year, with an average of 10 to 12 typhoons expected to form in the northwestern Pacific region. (Yonhap)