Typhoon Kong-rey is forecast to make landfall in eastern Taiwan this afternoon and would move out to sea sometime overnight, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said.
As of 9am today, Kong-rey's outer rim was covering most of Taiwan except for the north.
The storm's center was 110km east of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost tip, and moving northwest at 28kph.
Photo courtesy of the Central Weather Administration
It was carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of 184kph, and gusts of up to 227kph, the CWA said.
At a news conference this morning, CWA forecaster Chu Mei-lin (朱美霖) said Kong-rey is moving "extremely fast," and is expected to make landfall between midday and the afternoon.
The eye of the storm would likely pull away from Taiwan's west coast overnight, followed by its outer rim tomorrow morning, Chu said.
The CWA has forecast extremely heavy rain for eastern and northern Taiwan today, meaning that rainfall totals could exceed 200mm in a 24-hour period or 100mm in three hours.
Mountainous areas in Yilan and Hualien counties in the east could see even higher rainfall levels, Chu said.
In terms of wind, Chu said gusts of up to level 17 on the Beaufort scale (above 200kph) have already been measured on Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼), off Taiwan's southeast coast.
As the storm passes over Taiwan, wind speeds are forecast to reach level 14 (149kph to 165kph) in Taitung and Penghu counties, and level 11 (103kph to 117kph) in Hualien, Yilan and Lienchiang counties, as well as areas from New Taipei City to Kaohsiung, Chu said.
Meanwhile, level 9 to 10 wind speeds (75kph to 102kph) are expected in Keelung, Taipei, Nantou County, Chiayi City and Kinmen County, Chu said.
Orchid Island recorded a sustained wind speed of 215.64kph, the CWA said today.
The CWA later this morning said it is not the highest record though the strong wind broke the station’s measuring device.
It is not updating the figure as the weather station on the island is experiencing unstable power supply due to the typhoon, said CWA.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey is the largest cyclone to impact Taiwan in 27 years, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today. Kong-rey’s radius of maximum wind (RMW) — the distance between the center of a cyclone and its band of strongest winds — has expanded to 320km, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. The last time a typhoon of comparable strength with an RMW larger than 300km made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, he said. Herb made landfall between Keelung and Suao (蘇澳) in Yilan County with an RMW of 350km, Chang said. The weather station in Alishan (阿里山) recorded 1.09m of
STORM’S PATH: Kong-Rey could be the first typhoon to make landfall in Taiwan in November since Gilda in 1967. Taitung-Green Island ferry services have been halted Tropical Storm Kong-rey is forecast to strengthen into a typhoon early today and could make landfall in Taitung County between late Thursday and early Friday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. As of 2pm yesterday, Kong-Rey was 1,030km east-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), the nation’s southernmost point, and was moving west at 7kph. The tropical storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 101kph, with gusts of up to 126 kph, CWA data showed. After landing in Taitung, the eye of the storm is forecast to move into the Taiwan Strait through central Taiwan on Friday morning, the agency said. With the storm moving
NO WORK, CLASS: President William Lai urged people in the eastern, southern and northern parts of the country to be on alert, with Typhoon Kong-rey approaching Typhoon Kong-rey is expected to make landfall on Taiwan’s east coast today, with work and classes canceled nationwide. Packing gusts of nearly 300kph, the storm yesterday intensified into a typhoon and was expected to gain even more strength before hitting Taitung County, the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. The storm is forecast to cross Taiwan’s south, enter the Taiwan Strait and head toward China, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The CWA labeled the storm a “strong typhoon,” the most powerful on its scale. Up to 1.2m of rainfall was expected in mountainous areas of eastern Taiwan and destructive winds are likely
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday at 5:30pm issued a sea warning for Typhoon Kong-rey as the storm drew closer to the east coast. As of 8pm yesterday, the storm was 670km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) and traveling northwest at 12kph to 16kph. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 162kph and gusts of up to 198kph, the CWA said. A land warning might be issued this morning for the storm, which is expected to have the strongest impact on Taiwan from tonight to early Friday morning, the agency said. Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) and Green Island (綠島) canceled classes and work
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