Super typhoon Hinnamnor to make landfall in southern Japan

Super typhoon Hinnamnor brought strong winds to the southern Japan prefecture of Okinawa on Thursday, as it regained strength while moving near the island region.

The Japan Meteorological Agency raised the classification of the storm to "violent" in the morning after downgrading it to "very strong" on Wednesday evening, warning of strong gusts and high tides in Okinawa.

As of Thursday noon, the typhoon was about 290 km south of Miyako Island, moving south-southwest at 20 km/h. It had an atmospheric pressure of 920hPa at its centre, and was packing winds of up to 270 km/h, according to a report by Japanese news agency Kyodo.

The typhoon, the eleventh of the season, was expected to move slowly south of Okinawa before moving north and nearing the island prefecture around this weekend.

The agency forecast winds of up to 108km/h for Okinawa on Friday, and up to 252km/h on Saturday, with swells of up to 7m on Friday, and 10m on Saturday.

Officials have cautioned residents to stay alert.

Meanwhile, atmospheric conditions around Japan's main island of Honshu are unstable, as warm, moist air flows in from the south. Rain clouds are developing over some parts of the Tokai, Hokuriku and Tohoku regions, reports NHK World.

Rainfall during the 24-hour-period through Thursday morning is expected to reach up to 150mm in Hokkaido, 120mm in Tohoku, 100mm in Tokai, and 80mm in the Kansai region.

Officials are also warning of mudslides, flooding of low-lying areas, and swelling rivers.

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