The Japan Meteorological Agency launched a system Wednesday that can give a five-day forecast of the course and speed of a typhoon while it is still a tropical cyclone.
The move, which was realized mainly thanks to improvements in computer performance, will allow the public to evacuate or take other necessary measures to protect against typhoons earlier than they could before.
The agency used to announce the course and speed a typhoon would take over the next five days after it had already formed.
From now on, it will release a five-day forecast of the course and speed of a tropical cyclone that is highly likely to develop into a typhoon within 24 hours. A probability circle showing the expected location of the typhoon's center, storm warning areas and central atmospheric pressure will also be released.
Typhoons are tropical cyclones that form at sea around the equator and have wind speeds of at least 17 meters per second.
Tropical cyclones can disappear while in the developing stage.
The agency had been able to make forecasts regarding tropical cyclones only until the next day.
Thanks to the improvement in computer forecast functions, however, the agency became able to utilize more satellite data for weather forecasting.
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