A tropical depression east of the Philippines developed into a tropical storm yesterday morning, but it is unlikely to have an effect on Taiwan due to the approach of seasonal northeasterly winds and a cold weather front in the coming days, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said.
Tropical Storm Muifa, the first of its kind in this year’s typhoon season, was located 1,800km east-southeast of Taiwan and moving in a west-northwest direction, the bureau said.
However, the approaching weather systems would impede the storm’s development over the next two days as it changes course, meaning that Muifa would not bring rainfall or have any other impact on Taiwan, the bureau forecast.
The bureau said temperatures across Taiwan should fall to about 17°C or 18°C today and tomorrow as a result of the arrival of the weather front and seasonal winds and it urged people to take umbrellas when they go out.
In related news, the air quality was poor in central and southern areas and fair to good in eastern and northern areas, the Environmental Protection Administration’s Taiwan Air Quality Monitoring Network said.
As of 11am yesterday, air quality in Changhua, Yunlin, Chiayi and Kinmen counties had triggered a “red” light, which indicates that it is unhealthy for all groups of people, network data showed.
Some monitoring stations in Tainan and Kaohsiung also flashed red, while other stations in the region flashed “orange,” signaling air that is unhealthy for young children, the elderly and people with chronic diseases.
Other stations in the area flashed “yellow,” which indicates fair air quality.
ANOTHER EMERGES: The CWA yesterday said this year’s fourth storm of the typhoon season had formed in the South China Sea, but was not expected to affect Taiwan Tropical Storm Gaemi has intensified slightly as it heads toward Taiwan, where it is expected to affect the country in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 8am yesterday, the 120km-radius storm was 800km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost tip, moving at 9kph northwest, the agency said. A sea warning for Gaemi could be issued tonight at the earliest, it said, adding that the storm is projected to be closest to Taiwan on Wednesday or Thursday. Gaemi’s potential effect on Taiwan remains unclear, as that would depend on its direction, radius and intensity, forecasters said. Former Weather Forecast
Taiwanese barista Xie Yi-chen (謝溢宸) recently triumphed at the 2024 World Coffee Championships, taking home 1st place in the World Latte Art category. Xie, 28, impressed the judges in the final round with patterns of a whale, a moose, and a dragon in the three-day competition that took place in Copenhagen, Denmark from June 27-29, clinching the title of latte art world champion during his first time representing Taiwan on the world stage. At a press conference held by the Taiwan Coffee Association on Thursday, Xie said that creating latte art gives him a tremendous feeling of achievement. Speaking about his entries in
TRAVEL CONVENIENCE: The program is to shorten wait times while passing through airport checks and would start for Taiwanese from January next year Japan is to launch a new program to expedite entry procedures for Taiwanese starting from January next year. The Japanese government is planning to introduce new rules to shorten the time it takes foreign travelers to pass through immigration, thereby attracting more tourists to visit, Japanese public broadcaster NHK reported yesterday. An airport preclearance program would be implemented to allow foreign travelers to finish some screenings at their departure airport’s terminals and undergo simple confirmation procedures upon arrival, it said. The program would initially be applied to travelers from Taiwan from January next year and could be extended to travelers from elsewhere depending
The annual Taipei Summer Festival, which starts today, is to tone down its fireworks displays, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said on Monday. Fireworks displays are to be held at the riverside site in Datong District’s (大同) Dadaocheng (大稻埕) area on four days at this year’s festival, with the first today, and then on Wednesday next week, July 31 and Aug. 10, the department said. There were eight displays last year, with the reduction aimed at minimizing inconvenience to local residents, it said. The first three shows, which are all on Wednesdays, are to last for five minutes, while the final