In the warmest and wettest region of Japan, the mountainous, subtropical island of Kyushu is familiar with heavy rainfall, record rainfall but the rains which hit last weekend were simply off the scale.
At the height of the week-long flood event, 381mm of rain (15 inches) fell within just 6 HOURS. A NEW ALL-TIME RECORD.
Within 24 hours, Yunomae recieved 489.5mm within 24 hours, A NEW ALL-TIME RECORD.
In Kanoya, as much as 1,082mm (43 inches) fell within 6 days. That’s about half the annual rainfall for the city.
Reasons behind this increasingly frequent event?
Have a seasonal frontal boundary ‘mei-yu’ front stall over the warm kuroshio current, warmer-than-normal surrounding water and throw in steep mountainous terrain and you have a recipe for disaster.
Warm surrounding ocean current.
Geography of Kyushu.
All this rain comes in the wake of the wettest June on record for western Japan.
Another major contributor, the boiling waters surrounding southern Japan.
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