A tropical depression east of the Philippines became a tropical storm early yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, less than a week after a typhoon barreled across the nation.
The agency issued an advisory at 3:30am stating that the 22nd tropical storm, named Yinxing, of the Pacific typhoon season formed at 2am.
As of 8am, the storm was 1,730km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, with a 100km radius. It was moving west-northwest at 32kph, with maximum sustained winds of 83kph and gusts of up to 108kph.
Photo: Screen grab from the Central Weather Administration’s Web site
Based on its current path, the storm is not expected to hit Taiwan, CWA meteorologist Huang En-hung (黃恩宏) said.
However, a more accurate forecast would be made tomorrow, when Yinxing is expected to turn toward the nation.
Independent meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) added that the CWA’s projection showed that the storm would move northwestward over the next three days and might slow as it approaches waters southeast of Taiwan.
Citing the latest European simulation model, Wu said Yinxing’s path remains uncertain.
It might drift westward to sweep across Luzon, the main island of the Philippines, into the South China Sea, or it could take a U-turn and head northeastward, he said.
In either scenario, the northeasterly seasonal winds are not expected to strengthen the storm, he added.
Meanwhile, Wu said seasonal northeasterly winds are forecast to bring rain to northern Taiwan today, with temperatures expected to drop to as low as 16°C tomorrow and on Thursday.
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