The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) yesterday forecast that three to five typhoons could hit the nation this year, adding that more would be formed after September.
The nation’s typhoon season generally lasts from July to September.
Cheng Ming-dean (鄭明典), director of the bureau’s weather forecast center, said it forecast that 22 to 26 typhoons could form in the northwest Pacific Ocean this year and three to five of them could hit Taiwan.
Photo: CNA
“On average, 25.7 typhoons form each year in the northwest Pacific Ocean, about 3.6 of which could strike Taiwan,” Cheng said. “Based on the information presented to us, it is very likely that the number of typhoons formed this year will be close to or slightly below the average.”
Cheng said that five typhoons have already formed this year, although the bureau only issued sea alerts for tropical storms Aere, Songda and Meari.
As a result of high air pressure over the Pacific Ocean, Cheng said more typhoons would form in the fall this year.
Meanwhile, statistics from the bureau showed that there were 13 days in Taipei this month in which the temperature exceeded 35oC, breaking a 100-year-old record.
The average temperature in Greater Taichung so far this month has been 29.4oC, which is 1.75oC higher than average.
Taipei has recorded an average temperature of 29.2oC so far this month, which is 1.54oC higher than average.
The average temperatures recorded at the bureau’s 13 observation stations this month were also the second-highest since 1947, only less than those recorded in 1980, Chen said.
Cheng said the nation’s weather was relatively cooler before last month because of cold air coming from the North Pole. While the bureau had forecast that the cooler weather would last through this month, Cheng said sudden stratospheric warming at the North Pole has caused the monsoon trough to move eastward to the middle of the Pacific Ocean, which in turn caused Taiwan to be under the influence of downward air flow, which explained the rise in the temperature.
In related news, floods were reported in several places in downtown areas of Greater Kaohsiung yesterday because of the torrential rain that began last night.
As of press time, the bureau continued to issue heavy rain alerts nationwide because of a strong convective cloud system.
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