Typhoon Ampil to hit Japan on Friday

TOKYO, Aug 14: Typhoon Ampil is expected to make landfall in Japan on Friday, the country's weather forecasters said Wednesday of what will be the second weather system to strike the archipelago in a week.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) forecasts that the slow-moving typhoon, currently south of Japan, will close in on the eastern or northern part of the country Friday through Saturday with a "strong force".

In an advisory at 5:05 pm (0805 GMT) Typhoon Ampil was packing gusts of up to 162 kilometres per hour and moving northeast at 15 kilometres per hour, the weather agency said. 
On Monday, tropical storm Maria made landfall in northern Japan, having dumped the most rain in some areas since records began and forced the cancellation of dozens of flights.    —AFP