News Rainy season finally starting in Kanto area

The Meteorological Agency announced that the rainy season has commenced in the Kanto-Koshin area, including Tokyo, and in the Tokai and Kinki regions. This year's onset is notably delayed, starting 14 days after the usual time in Kanto-Koshin and 15 days later in Tokai and Kinki, compared to the average. It also began 13 days and 23 days later than the previous year in these regions, respectively. Conversely, the rainy season in the Okinawa region concluded slightly ahead of schedule, ending one day before the typical time and five days sooner than the prior year, as the agency reported last Thursday.

On Friday, the southern part of the Kyushu region was hit by heavy rain due to an active seasonal rain front. The agency said a linear precipitation zone, a band of cumulonimbus cloud that causes very heavy rain, formed in Kagoshima Prefecture in the morning.

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According to the agency, the rainy season front has taken longer than average to move northward, mainly because the Pacific high-pressure system has not strengthened its northward extension.