Typhoon Danas is expected to hit South Korea late Tuesday, possibly bringing heavy downfalls, the Korea Meteorological Administration said.

“Due to the effects of the typhoon, heavy rain accompanied by strong winds is expected to hit the southern region as well as the East Sea,” the KMA said on its homepage. It added that parts of the country, including Jeju Island and the east and south coasts, could be hit by up to 30 millimeters of rain per hour.

Typhoon Danas, which was passing through seas off Japan’s southernmost island of Okinawa as of 2:00 p.m., was observed to have central pressure of around 935 hPa and wind speeds of up to 48 meters per second as of 9 a.m. on Monday.

It will approach within 200 kilometers of Busan at 9:00 p.m., after which it will continue to move eastward toward Japan.

It is the first time since 1998 that a typhoon has affected the Korean Peninsula in October. Only four “October typhoons” have been recorded since 1950. Typhoon Fitow, which was initially expected to reach the Korean Peninsula around Sunday, turned westward instead and slammed into southern China earlier in the day.

In light of the approaching typhoon, the Navy postponed its joint training with the Marine Corps., which was to commence Thursday. The local administration of Ulsan, located about 410 kilometers southeast of Seoul, held an emergency meeting to minimize the damage from the typhoon.

(khnews@heraldcorp.com)