Japan's New Disaster Weather Information Unifies 4 Types of Disaster Alert Levels

Central News Agency

(CNA Tokyo 14th Comprehensive Foreign Report) – Japan's Meteorological Agency and Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism announced today that new disaster weather information, including heavy rain, will be provided starting May 28, unifying the alert levels for four types of disasters—river flooding, heavy rain, landslide disasters, and storm surges—into levels 1 to 5.

"Asahi Shimbun" reported that the new system will officially take effect on May 29, but new information will be released the day before. If a major earthquake or other situation occurs, the switch to the new disaster weather information may be postponed.

Japan's previous disaster weather information (防災気象情報) varied in alerts or alert information (警戒情報) depending on the disaster, and the danger levels were not unified. The connection with evacuation information issued by local governments was difficult for the public to understand.

The new disaster weather information designates Level 5 as "Special Warning," Level 4 as "Danger Warning," Level 3 as "Warning," and Level 2 as "Advisory" for river flooding, heavy rain, landslide disasters, and storm surges. "Early Warning Information" (早期注意情報), which predicts alert-level phenomena within 5 days, is classified as Level 1, regardless of the type of disaster.

The indicators for local governments to issue evacuation information are based on these levels: Level 5 will trigger "Emergency Safety Assurance," Level 4 will trigger "Evacuation Order," and Level 3 will trigger "Evacuation for Elderly and Others," making the corresponding alert levels much clearer.

For the public, Level 5 means there is a danger to life, and immediate safety must be ensured; Level 4 means everyone should evacuate from dangerous places; Level 3 means those who need time to evacuate should do so early and prepare for evacuation; Level 2 means checking evacuation actions, such as confirming evacuation locations, routes, and times.

On the other hand, information on storms, high waves, and heavy snow will maintain the current expressions of "Special Warning, Warning, Advisory." In addition, existing flood warnings and flood advisories will be unified under names such as "Flood Warning," so the new information will no longer contain the word "flood."

Furthermore, a "soon-to-occur prediction" mechanism will be introduced for linear precipitation zones (called linear convection in Taiwan, referring to cumulonimbus clouds arranged in a line, extending 50 to 300 kilometers), which can bring heavy rainfall. In addition to predictions half a day in advance, a new prediction targeting 2 to 3 hours in advance will be added to warn of increasing danger.

Disaster weather information has continuously increased due to improvements in observation and prediction technology and the occurrence of major disasters. To address the issue of inconsistent terminology, the Meteorological Agency and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism held expert review meetings starting in 2022, and relevant regulations were revised in December last year, continuously preparing for the use of the new disaster weather information. (Compiler: Yang Wei-ching) 1150414

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