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.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
RSS