The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) issued a sea alert for Tropical Storm Kalmaegi at 2:30pm yesterday as it began approaching the nation’s east coast.
The bureau was originally planning to make the announcement yesterday morning, but the storm’s rather slow and wayward movements meant the bureau decided to hold the warning until the afternoon.
Daniel Wu (吳德榮), the CWB’s weather forecast center director, said the storm had been “stuck” in the same spot for 24 hours, before it finally began moving yesterday afternoon.
As of 8:30pm yesterday, the center of the storm was located 340km southeast of Ouluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), moving north at a speed of 20kph.
Maximum wind speeds near the center of the storm were measuring approximately 120kph, while at the radius of the storm were 90kph.
Kalmaegi’s circumfluence was likely to bring heavy rain to northeastern and eastern regions starting yesterday evening, Wu said.
The bureau forecast that the storm would begin to pick up pace because of the guiding air stream of the Pacific Ocean.
It estimated that Kalmaegi would move closer to the east coast either tonight or tomorrow.
“Whether the circumfluence of the storm will make landfall requires further observations,” he said. “It is too early to know when we will issue a land alert.”
While the storm will continue to bring torrential rain to the east coast both today and tomorrow, people on the west coast should prepare for rain brought by the southwestern air stream that will arrive after the storm moves on.
While tropical storms can produce heavy storms and strong winds, they are also able to produce large ocean waves and tidal surges.
Tropical storms generally develop over large bodies of warm water.
Coastal regions can receive significant damage from a tropical storm as the storms generally do not lose their strength until they reach land.
Aside from causing damage, tropical storms can sometimes relieve drought conditions.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS