The nation enters typhoon season today and the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) says that three to five typhoons or tropical storms are likely to hit this year.
The typhoon season begins in July and ends in September. This year, however, four tropical storms have formed in the northwest Pacific Ocean since May, with Tropical Storm Linfa hitting the outlying islands of Taiwan.
Daniel Wu (吳德榮), director of the CWB’s forecast center, said that about 24 to 27 typhoons could form in the northwest Pacific Ocean this year, but only three to five of them would likely pose a threat to Taiwan.
Data from the past 30 years showed that the average number of typhoons in the northwest Pacific Ocean between July and September is 26.6. And on average, about three typhoons hit Taiwan, the bureau said.
In the past five years, however, the average number of typhoons in the same area during these three months was 24.2, with around four hitting Taiwan.
Wu added that sea temperature of the central Pacific would affect where typhoons or tropical storms form.
“The sea temperature has risen slightly,” he said. “This will potentially cause typhoons or tropical storms to form around Guam. In that case, typhoons are more likely to develop into major typhoons because they tend to stay longer over the sea and can absorb more water vapor.”
“So far, however, we’ve also seen tropical storms form around the South China Sea and the Philippines,” he said.
Wu also said meteorologists from the UK and Hong Kong estimated 27 typhoons would form in the northwest Pacific.
The bureau also presented figures on rainfall during the Plum Rain season, which lasts from May to June.
Accumulated rain in these two months normally accounts for one-third of annual rainfall.
Wu said the data showed that the amount of rainfall in May was less than average, but normal last month.
As of Sunday, the average accumulated rainfall at the bureau’s 13 observation stations nationwide was 279.6mm, or 227mm less than average.
This made this year’s Plum Rain season the fifth driest on record, following dry spells in 1980, 1954, 1971 and 2004.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
A preclearance service to facilitate entry for people traveling to select airports in Japan would be available from Thursday next week to Feb. 25 at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, Taoyuan International Airport Corp (TIAC) said on Tuesday. The service was first made available to Taiwanese travelers throughout the winter vacation of 2024 and during the Lunar New Year holiday. In addition to flights to the Japanese cities of Hakodate, Asahikawa, Akita, Sendai, Niigata, Okayama, Takamatsu, Kumamoto and Kagoshima, the service would be available to travelers to Kobe and Oita. The service can be accessed by passengers of 15 flight routes operated by
Taiwanese and US defense groups are collaborating to introduce deployable, semi-autonomous manufacturing systems for drones and components in a boost to the nation’s supply chain resilience. Taiwan’s G-Tech Optroelectronics Corp subsidiary GTOC and the US’ Aerkomm Inc on Friday announced an agreement with fellow US-based Firestorm Lab to adopt the latter’s xCell, a technology featuring 3D printers fitted in 6.1m container units. The systems enable aerial platforms and parts to be produced in high volumes from dispersed nodes capable of rapid redeployment, to minimize the risk of enemy strikes and to meet field requirements, they said. Firestorm chief technology officer Ian Muceus said
MORE FALL: An investigation into one of Xi’s key cronies, part of a broader ‘anti-corruption’ drive, indicates that he might have a deep distrust in the military, an expert said China’s latest military purge underscores systemic risks in its shift from collective leadership to sole rule under Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), and could disrupt its chain of command and military capabilities, a national security official said yesterday. If decisionmaking within the Chinese Communist Party has become “irrational” under one-man rule, the Taiwan Strait and the regional situation must be approached with extreme caution, given unforeseen risks, they added. The anonymous official made the remarks as China’s Central Military Commission Vice Chairman Zhang Youxia (張又俠) and Joint Staff Department Chief of Staff Liu Zhenli (劉振立) were reportedly being investigated for suspected “serious
RSS