Tropical Storm Khanun is gathering momentum and could evolve into a typhoon in the coming days as it moves closer to Taiwan, but more time is needed to determine whether the storm will have a direct impact on the country, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said yesterday.
As of 8am yesterday, the center of the storm, which formed in the western Pacific early on Friday, was located 1,620km southeast of Taiwan’s southernmost tip Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), moving at 16kph in a west-northwesterly direction, the CWB said.
Khanun had a radius of 150km and was packing maximum sustained winds of 65kph with gusts of up to 90kph, the CWB said.
Photo: Huang Ming-tang, Taipei Times
The storm was strengthening and the bureau did not rule out the possibility of it being upgraded into a typhoon tomorrow.
It could move past distant sea areas north of Taiwan later, but it is still too early to determine whether Khanun will directly affect the country, the bureau said.
The environment of the path Khanun was moving in was favorable for the storm to strengthen, said Daniel Wu (吳德榮), a former CWB Weather Forecast Center director who is now an adjunct associate professor of atmospheric sciences at National Central University, adding that he expected the tropical storm to become a typhoon.
Citing the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, Wu said the tropical storm is likely to move closer to the waters north of Taiwan.
Meanwhile, as Typhoon Doksuri has washed up large amounts of driftwood in coastal areas of Taitung County, the Taitung Forest District Office issued a statement on Friday saying that the public is not permitted to claim the wood until the office finishes marking and classification work.
The CWB lifted its land and sea warning for Typhoon Doksuri at 5:30pm on Friday.
The heavy rainfall brought by Typhoon Doksuri has washed ashore multiple items, mostly wood, along more than 10km of coastline, the office said, adding that it is to check the driftwood as soon as the weather permits.
In the meantime, anyone who takes driftwood prior to an official announcement to that effect faces a jail sentence of 1 to 7 years or a fine of NT$1 million to NT$20 million (US$31,857 to US$637,145), according to Article 50 and 52 of the Forestry Act (森林法), it said.
Office personnel are to identify and mark the types and prices of wood, while also collecting the driftwood, with an announcement to be made after the work is finished, the it said.
The office said it is to set up a temporary inspection station with Taitung County Government to conduct checks and register the wood, adding that it would also determine when the wood can be claimed by the public.
Anyone who picks up the driftwood for personal use after the announcement does not have to register, but if the wood is to be sold it, has to be registered and an application has to be filed with the Taiwan Forest Products Protection Traceability System, it said.
The office urged the public not to break the law by claiming driftwood before the official announcement.
It also asked anyone who contravenes that requirement to be reported to 1999, 0800-000-930 or 110.
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