The Central Weather Bureau yesterday said a tropical storm had formed in the morning and was moving toward the Vietnam-China border, adding that the system would not affect Taiwan.
At 2pm yesterday, Tropical Storm Mindulle was located 400km south of Haikou, Hainan Province, China. It was moving northwesterly at a speed of 18kph.
A tropical storm also named Mindulle, which eventually turned into a typhoon, hit Taiwan six years ago, making landfall near Hualien.
The southwestern monsoon induced by Mindulle led to days of rain in the eastern, central and southern parts of the country. Thirty-three people died and 12 went missing and were presumed dead amid landslides. The aggregate losses in produce, fishery, forestry and animal farming reached NT$8.9 billion (US$278 million).
The bureau said that even though the tropical storm and the typhoon shared the same name, they had formed at different locations and would follow different formation patterns.
Despite the fact that the tropical storm will not affect Taiwan, Chen said that part of the cloud system from the south had moved up and could bring rain to certain regions of Taiwan.
For today, showers are expected in most parts of Taiwan, especially in the east, as well as in certain parts of Taipei, while chances of afternoon showers and heavy rainfall are high in Central Taiwan.
Meanwhile, bureau forecaster Chen Wei-liang (陳維良) said the bureau was monitoring the formation of a low-air pressure system near the Philippines.
“It is now at 1,000km off the east coast of the Philippines and has the potential of turning into a strong tropical low air pressure system,” he said, adding that it was not clear at this point whether the low air pressure would develop into a tropical storm.
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