The nation enters typhoon season today and the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) says that three to five typhoons or tropical storms are likely to hit this year.
The typhoon season begins in July and ends in September. This year, however, four tropical storms have formed in the northwest Pacific Ocean since May, with Tropical Storm Linfa hitting the outlying islands of Taiwan.
Daniel Wu (吳德榮), director of the CWB’s forecast center, said that about 24 to 27 typhoons could form in the northwest Pacific Ocean this year, but only three to five of them would likely pose a threat to Taiwan.
Data from the past 30 years showed that the average number of typhoons in the northwest Pacific Ocean between July and September is 26.6. And on average, about three typhoons hit Taiwan, the bureau said.
In the past five years, however, the average number of typhoons in the same area during these three months was 24.2, with around four hitting Taiwan.
Wu added that sea temperature of the central Pacific would affect where typhoons or tropical storms form.
“The sea temperature has risen slightly,” he said. “This will potentially cause typhoons or tropical storms to form around Guam. In that case, typhoons are more likely to develop into major typhoons because they tend to stay longer over the sea and can absorb more water vapor.”
“So far, however, we’ve also seen tropical storms form around the South China Sea and the Philippines,” he said.
Wu also said meteorologists from the UK and Hong Kong estimated 27 typhoons would form in the northwest Pacific.
The bureau also presented figures on rainfall during the Plum Rain season, which lasts from May to June.
Accumulated rain in these two months normally accounts for one-third of annual rainfall.
Wu said the data showed that the amount of rainfall in May was less than average, but normal last month.
As of Sunday, the average accumulated rainfall at the bureau’s 13 observation stations nationwide was 279.6mm, or 227mm less than average.
This made this year’s Plum Rain season the fifth driest on record, following dry spells in 1980, 1954, 1971 and 2004.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
RSS