Japan’s Meteorological Agency says that a tropical depression developed into Tropical Storm Halong in waters near the Ogasawara Islands at 3 a.m. on Sunday.
Weather officials are calling on people to be on the alert for strong winds, lightning strikes, high waves and sudden heavy rain.
The agency says the tropical storm was slowly moving west over waters 260 kilometers south of Chichijima Island as of 3:00 p.m.
It had a central atmospheric pressure of 1,000 hectopascals and was packing winds of over 64.8 kilometers per hour near its center, with gusts of up to 90 kilometers per hour.
The rain and wind are expected to get stronger in the Ogasawara Islands through Monday.
Rough sea conditions are also expected to continue.
Weather officials have not yet precisely determined the tropical storm’s future course, although they expect it to move west while further developing in waters south of Japan.
AloJapan.com