Typhoon Bebinca to approach Japanese islands over weekend: JMA

Tokyo: Japan's weather agency on Wednesday issued a warning as Typhoon Bebinca is expected to approach the country's island chain, including Okinawa and Amami regions over the weekend, bringing severe weather conditions.

The 13th typhoon of the year, which formed near the Mariana Islands on Tuesday night, is moving northwest at 20 kilometres per hour, reported the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).

As of 9 a.m. local time on Wednesday, the tropical storm had a central pressure of 990 hPa and a maximum wind speed of 25 metres per second, Xinhua news agency reported.

The storm's strong wind zone, with a speed of at least 15 metres per second, extends within a radius of 220 kilometres from the centre, said the JMA.

The JMA warned that the typhoon, expected to hit between Saturday and Sunday, may bring heavy rains, strong winds, and high waves to the affected regions, urging residents and visitors to take precautions.

Tropical storm Bebinca was a weak but erratic and long-lived tropical cyclone that affected China and Vietnam in mid-August, 2018. Bebinca originated from a tropical depression over the China Sea on August 9. Maintaining this intensity for a few days near the Guangdong coast, the system finally intensified into a tropical storm south of Jiangmen on August 13.

The storm moved slowly to the east and then curved back on the next day, before making landfall in the Leizhou Penisula on August 15. Bebinca crossed the Gulf of Tonkin and made landfall in Vietnam on August 16, before dissipating on the next day.