The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) yesterday issued a sea warning for Typhoon Matsa, saying that the weather in Taiwan would be affected by its approach today and tomorrow. Forecasters reminded residents in mountainous areas of possible heavy rains in the following days.
Matsa, the name of a fish in Laos, is the ninth typhoon this year in the region. Forecasters said yesterday that residents in central and southern parts of Taiwan -- which had suffered from serious floods caused by the passage of devastating Typhoon Haitang two weeks ago -- would experience similar rainy days.
According to Lin Hsiu-wen (
With a radius of 250km, Matsa was moving northwest at 15kph. At 5pm yesterday, the center of Matsa was 500km east of Oluanpi (
"However, if its center passes close to land, the occurrence of heavy rains in the central and southern parts of Taiwan, especially in mountainous areas, is possible in the following days," Lin said.
In addition, Lin said hot dry winds, known as Foehn winds, could occur in the Taitung area tonight and tomorrow.
Forecasters predict that the weather in the north and northeast today and tomorrow would be significantly affected by Matsa, which is still growing.
In order to further ensure the accuracy of the typhoon forecast, scientists of the National Science Council (NSC) on Tuesday flew to areas around 400km from Matsa's center to gather data such as air pressure, temperature, humidity and wind speed. According to Lin Po-hsiung (
Meanwhile, in other developments, officials of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) yesterday urged residents in areas affected by the spread of melioidosis to avoid wading through areas inundated by river water after heavy rains.
Melioidosis is caused by a ubiquitous soil bacterium, Pseudomonas pseudomallei, and contracted either by walking across contaminated soil or ingesting contaminated water.
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