A tropical storm that formed over the Pacific Ocean strengthened into a typhoon named Trami yesterday morning, and is expected to start affecting the weather in Taiwan on Friday, the Central Weather Bureau said.
As of 2pm yesterday, the center of the typhoon was 1,520km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 18kph, with the maximum wind speed reaching 126kph.
The storm’s radius expanded to 150km.
Trami is expected to approach the east coast on Friday and Saturday, the bureau said, adding that chances of showers would be high along the east coast as well as northern Taiwan due to the typhoon’s circumference.
Isolated showers could also occur in the rest of the nation, it said.
Other variables could affect the typhoon’s movements, the bureau said, adding that it would closely monitor the typhoon’s path.
As of press time last night, the typhoon was forecast to move northwest toward the south of Okinawa, Japan.
Between today and Thursday, Taiwan will be under the influence of a stronger northeast wind, with isolated heavy rainfall forecast for the northern and northeastern regions, the bureau said.
Chances of showers would be high in Hualien and Taitung counties, it said.
Cloudy skies with afternoon thunderstorms are forecast for central and southern Taiwan, the bureau said.
Because of the rainfall, the highs in the northern and northeastern regions would drop to 28°C to 29°C, with the lows dipping to between 22°C and 24°C, the bureau said.
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