The Central Weather Bureau yesterday said that a tropical storm has formed over waters close to Guam and is likely to develop into a typhoon at the weekend.
If so, it will be the 17th typhoon to form in the Pacific this year and would be named Megi, the bureau said.
The bureau said that the storm formed to the east of Guam at 8am yesterday. The storm was 3,500km from Taiwan as of press time last night.
The storm is not likely to affect Taiwan’s weather this week, the bureau said.
Forecaster Hsu Chung-yi (徐仲毅) said the storm could possibly develop into a typhoon tomorrow or on Saturday and then move in a northwesterly direction along the southern edge of a Pacific high-pressure system.
It will likely move near Luzon in the Philippines on Tuesday next week and is expected to affect the nation on Wednesday and Thursday, Hsu said.
Daniel Wu (吳德榮), a meteorologist and adjunct associate professor of atmospheric sciences at National Central University, said that the possible typhoon could be a strong one by the time it approaches Taiwan.
He based his prediction on the premise that the heat content of the sea area the tropical storm will pass over in the next few days will be relatively high. Also, the storm will encounter less vertical wind shear due to its being south of a high-pressure system, Wu said.
However, the situation could change over the next six or seven days, he said.
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