The Central Weather Bureau yesterday announced that a tropical storm had formed close to Taiwan in the Pacific Ocean, but said it was still determining whether the storm would affect the country.
At press time, Tropical Storm Conson was about 1,250km southeast of Hengchun (恆春), Pingtung County, and 890km east of Manila. It was moving northwesterly at a speed of 21kph, with a radius reaching 120km.
Bureau forecaster Lee Hsiang-yuan (李湘源) said Conson was expected to approach the Philippines in the next two days.
“We can better determine the potential track of the storm by considering the changes in high air pressure in the Pacific Ocean after the storm passes the Philippines,” Lee said.
Weather forecasters in Vietnam named the storm after a scenic spot in the country.
Meanwhile, the weather forecast showed high chances of afternoon thundershowers in plains areas in northern, northeastern and central parts of the country this week. If the convection range increases, thundershowers could also occur in Hualien and Taitung, the weather bureau said.
While rain would bring afternoon temperatures down a little, daytime temperatures in Taipei City could still reach 36°C. Highs of between 33°C and 35°C are also expected across the nation.
Fewer Foehn winds, or downslope dry, hot winds, are expected in Taitung because the wind now blows from the south rather than the southwest.
Temperatures in Dawu (大武), Taitung County, reached 39.2°C on Sunday.
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Taiwan is to commence mass production of the Tien Kung (天弓, “Sky Bow”) III, IV and V missiles by the second quarter of this year if the legislature approves the government’s NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.78 billion) special defense budget, an official said yesterday. Commenting on condition of anonymity, a defense official with knowledge of the matter said that the advanced systems are expected to provide crucial capabilities against ballistic and cruise missiles for the proposed “T-Dome,” an advanced, multi-layered air defense network. The Tien Kung III is an air defense missile with a maximum interception altitude of 35km. The Tien Kung IV and V
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Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
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