Typhoon Noru is marching toward a potentially destructive strike in the Ryukyu Islands and southwestern Japan this weekend, concluding a long, strange journey that the tropical cyclone has already made through the western Pacific Ocean. Noru was equivalent in strength to a Category 2 hurricane as of Wednesday afternoon U.S. time (Japan is 13 hours ahead of U.S. EDT) and was centered about 500 miles southeast of Sasebo, Japan. Large swells generated from Noru are
already affecting parts of the Japanese coast. The Japan Meteorological Agency has already issued advisories for high waves in the Ryukyu Islands, as well as the Pacific coasts of Kyushu, Shikoku and Honshu, to the east of Tokyo. Noru will bend on a west-northwest track through Friday, thanks to blocking high pressure to its north over South Korea and the Sea of Japan. READ MORE
