The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said yesterday it could issue sea alert for Typhoon Jelawat between tonight and early tomorrow morning as the storm poses a threat to the sea vessels operating at the southern and eastern Taiwan.
As of 2pm yesterday, Jelawat’s center was located at 1,030km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 11kph. The bureau forecast that the typhoon would move to 760km southeast of Oluanpi by 8am today.
Bureau forecaster Hsien Min-ken (謝旻耕) said the circumfluence of the typhoon would start affecting the weather tomorrow.
“As it continues to move closer, the bureau could issue sea alert some time between Wednesday night and early Thursday morning,” Hsieh said.
Based on the bureau’s projected path of movement, Jelawat would be closer to Taiwan on Friday and Saturday. The storm would move northward after its eye enters the Bashi Channel and would continue to move toward the sea area near the nation’s east coast, the bureau forecast.
Daniel Wu (吳德榮), an associate professor at the National Central University, said Jelawat is a strong typhoon. The threat the typhoon may cause to Taiwan may be greater if it comes even closer to the nation.
The joint influence of Jelawat’s circumfluence, the northeast monsoon and geographical factors could bring torrential rainfall to Yilan, Hualien and the mountainous areas of northern Taiwan, he said.
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Ewiniar formed on Monday night. By 2pm yesterday, its eye was located at 1,820km east of Oluanpi, the bureau said.
It was moving northeast at 21kph, with a radius of 120km. The bureau forecast that it would move toward Japan.
Jelawat and Ewiniar are about 1,300km apart and moving far away from each other, the bureau said, adding that the two are not likely to generate the Fujiwhara effect.
Ewiniar would not affect the weather in Taiwan, the bureau added.
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