Tropical Storm Kong-Rey is set to turn into a typhoon today, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday, adding that it would be able to determine if Kong-Rey will pose a threat to the nation on Wednesday.
As of 2pm yesterday, the storm’s center was 2,010km southeast of Taiwan’s most southern tip, Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻).
It was moving northwest at 17kph with maximum wind speeds of 119kph and a radius of 150km.
Photo: Wang Han-ping, Taipei Times
The bureau said its projected path for Kong-Rey is similar to that of Super Typhoon Trami, which pummeled Japan with strong winds and torrential rain over the weekend.
There is great uncertainty regarding Kang-Rey’s movements, the bureau said, adding that it would be better able to predict on Wednesday if the storm will hit Taiwan directly.
As of yesterday, the bureau forecast that Kong-Rey would be closest to the northeast coast on Friday and has the potential to be upgraded to a super typhoon.
The storm’s circumference could start affecting the nation on Wednesday, bringing showers to the north and northeast, the bureau said.
Kong-Rey is the 25th storm or typhoon to have formed over the northwestern Pacific Ocean between January and last month, former bureau weather forecast center director Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said on his blog.
The northwestern Pacific has not seen this many storms or typhoons forming in such rapid succession since 1994, when there were 26 typhoons and storms, he said.
The Japan Meteorological Agency has forecast that Kong-Rey would only be upgraded to a typhoon in the next five days, but both the bureau and the US Navy said that it could become a super typhoon.
The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts said that the storm could turn north near the Ryukyu Islands or pass through the Bashi Channel, Wu said.
Both paths or any path between them are possible, he said, adding that it would depend on the strength of the Pacific high-pressure system.
The National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction compared the possible paths for Kong-Rey as predicted by the bureau, the US Navy, the Japan Meteorological Agency, the Korea Meteorological Administration, the China Meteorological Administration and the Hong Kong Observatory, it said.
Their projections were almost the same until Wednesday, the center said, adding that Kong-Rey should move northwest, coming close the southeast of the Ryukyu Islands.
However, differences emerged in predictions beyond Wednesday, with the US Navy forecasting that it would gradually turn north and others predicting that it would continue moving toward Miyako Island, it said.
Cloudy to sunny skies are forecast nationwide through Tuesday, with afternoon showers forecast for the mountainous areas in central and southern Taiwan, Wu said.
Isolated showers could also occur in Hualien and Taitung, Wu said.
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
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
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
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