The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) yesterday said it could still issue a sea alert for Typhoon Khanun tonight or tomorrow morning even though it projected that the storm would move north toward Japan.
As Naha International Airport would be closed ahead of the approaching typhoon, four airlines in Taiwan — Starlux Airlines, Tigerair Taiwan, China Airlines and EVA Airways — yesterday announced that flights to Okinawa today would be all canceled.
EVA also announced that its flights to Okinawa tomorrow would be canceled.
Photo: Central Weather Bureau
As of 2pm yesterday, Khanun was centered 1,060km east-southeast of Taipei and was moving northwest at 18kph, bureau data showed. The typhoon’s maximum wind speed hit 144kph, with its radius reaching 250km.
CWB senior weather forecaster Chu Mei-lin (朱美霖) said that Khanun’s radius could expand as it nears Okinawa.
Due to the lack of a guiding airstream, the typhoon could slow when it reaches waters off Taiwan’s northeast coast tomorrow before it turns north, Chu said.
“As it turns north, the oceanic environment is not fit for the typhoon’s further development. As such, it could remain a typhoon or become slightly weaker before it moves northeast away from Taiwan,” she said.
Khanun is forecast to be closest to Taiwan tomorrow and on Thursday, Chu said, adding that the agency could issue a sea alert tonight or tomorrow morning if the typhoon’s projected path moves closer to Taiwan.
Today, chances of rain are high in northern Taiwan due to clouds from the typhoon’s outer rain bands, she said.
Afternoon showers are forecast for mountainous areas and southern Taiwan, she added.
Rain in northern Taiwan is expected to intensify tomorrow and on Thursday, with a high likelihood of intermittent rain in central and southern Taiwan, Chu said.
Southwest winds are expected to rise again in Taiwan on Friday as the typhoon moves away, with a high probability of showers on the windward side of central and southern Taiwan from Friday to Monday next week, she said.
Residents in northern Taiwan, Lienchiang County, the east coast and southwest should beware rogue waves in coastal areas, she 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
Ferry operators are planning to provide a total of 1,429 journeys between Taiwan proper and its offshore islands to meet increased travel demand during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, the Maritime and Port Bureau said yesterday. The available number of ferry journeys on eight routes from Saturday next week to Feb. 2 is expected to meet a maximum transport capacity of 289,414 passengers, the bureau said in a news release. Meanwhile, a total of 396 journeys on the "small three links," which are direct ferries connecting Taiwan's Kinmen and Lienchiang counties with China's Fujian Province, are also being planned to accommodate
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
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
RSS