Tokyo, Aug 7 (IANS): The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) on Monday said that powerful typhoon Khanun is expected to approach the country's southwestern main island of Kyushu later this week, possibly bringing torrential rain to parts of the area.

Khanun, the sixth typhoon of the year, after slowly moving around the southern island prefecture of Okinawa, is advancing eastward, with Kagoshima prefecture's Amami region and other areas entering its storm zone, Xinhua news agency quoted the JMA as saying.

Weather officials urged great caution, as linear rainbands known to bring heavy downpours could develop in the southern parts of Kyushu and the Amami region through Tuesday morning.

As of 11 a.m. on Monday, Khanun was moving in a north-northeast direction east of Amami-Oshima Island with a centre atmospheric pressure of 970 hectopascals, packing winds of up to 144 km per hour, the agency said.

Rainfall in the 24 hours through 6 a.m. Tuesday is forecast to reach up to 300 mm in the Amami area and southern Kyushu, and 250 mm in the western Shikoku region and central Tokai region, it added.

The typhoon will later change its course northward and is expected to approach the main island of Kyushu on Wednesday, said the JMA.