Typhoon Nanmadol, the year's 14th, is gathering strength as it moves north toward the Korean Peninsula.
According to the Korea Meteorological Administration(KMA), the “strong” tropical cyclone was 860 kilometers east-southeast from Japan's Okinawa as of 9 a.m. Friday, packing a maximum wind speed of 40 meters per second, with a central pressure of 955 hectopascals.
The agency expects the storm to become "very strong" as it moves over the warm ocean, and hit the southwestern coast of Japan's Kyushu Island by Sunday before moving north of the island on Monday.
KMA warned that Nanmadol may pass through the Korea Strait, if the cyclone hits a high pressure system from the northern Pacific Ocean.
Regardless of its route, the typhoon will likely bring a downpour of up to 120 millimeters and strong winds of up to 30 meters per second on the southernmost Jeju Island and along the southeastern coast as it nears the peninsula early Monday.