[1] The system that was to become Typhoon Lionrock was first noted as a subtropical disturbance on August 15, while it was located about 585 km (365 mi) to the west of Wake Island.

[2] At this time the disturbance had a broad and poorly organized low level circulation centre, which had some shallow bands of atmospheric convection wrapping loosely around it.

[3] The depression was subsequently classified as subtropical by the United States Joint Typhoon Warning Center during August 17, as its structure was asymmetric, with deep convection displaced to the north and east of the system's low level circulation centre.

On August 29, Lionrock turned towards the northwest due to a high pressure system located east of Japan, putting it on an unprecedented path towards the northeastern region of the country.

[6] Right before weakening into a severe tropical storm at 18:00 JST (09:00 UTC) on August 30, Lionrock made landfall near Ōfunato, a city in Iwate Prefecture, Japan with winds of 75 mph (121 km/h).

[8] Lionrock's track was unusual due to the fact that the storm approached Japan from the southeast and made landfall along the east coast of the country.

[9] In fact, the only other storm to take a similar track was Typhoon Mac in 1989, which also approached from the southeast and struck Japan's Kantō region along its east coast.

[10] Japan's Prime Minister Shinzō Abe left a Japan-African development conference in Nairobi, Kenya early due to the threat of flight cancellations caused by the typhoon.

[12] Efforts were made to protect the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant from further damage, as it had been severely incapacitated following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

The amount of water being pumped at the facility was increased in order to minimize the risk of floods, and crane operations were suspended due to the threat of strong winds.

[25] In addition, two EMERCOM officers (the chief of the Primorsky Krai department and his driver) died when their KAMAZ truck fell into the Pavlovka River.

[30] The government sent a truck from the capital Pyongyang with medical kits and vitamin supplements on September 5,[31] and announced a plan to rebuild 20,000 houses by early October 2016.

[16] The local Red Cross launched an appeal for emergency aid in response to the disaster through the state media Korean Central News Agency.

[37] The government, which rarely releases information on disasters in the country, requested for aid from the international community, just days after a nuclear weapons test that led to calls for increased sanctions.