Further observation is needed to determine whether a tropical depression off the east coast of the Philippines would turn into a typhoon as the typhoon season begins today, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said yesterday.
The tropical depression system was moving northwest at 21kph, bureau data showed.
“We think that the chances of the tropical depression system evolving into a typhoon are low, because it lacks necessary atmospheric conditions. However, as it is off the east coast of the Philippines, which normally facilitates the formation of tropical storms or typhoons, we do not exclude the possibility that reality might be different from what we have estimated,” weather forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said.
Photo: Chiang Ying-ying / AP
The US Joint Typhoon Warning Center on Saturday upgraded the tropical depression system to a tropical storm, former bureau Weather Forecast Center director Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said in his column.
However, the Japan Meteorological Agency still labeled it as a tropical depression system, he said.
“The difference shows a long-standing problem for meteorologists monitoring typhoons in the northwest Pacific Ocean. Because of a lack of a weather observation center at sea, there are no data on the structure and intensity of the tropical depression system collected from direct observations. As such, meteorologists can estimate the possible path of its movement from satellite images, which leads to different judgements,” Wu added.
Wu said that the tropical depression system’s guiding airstream is likely to lead it toward the Bashi Channel, which was the general consensus among bureau meteorologists, as well those in Europe and the US.
However, their analyses on the intensity of the system diverged due to a lack of data.
“As to whether it would become a tropical storm, I would say we wait until it comes closer today, which would allow us to make a more accurate forecast. It is still too early to reach a definite conclusion,” he said.
In related news, the bureau yesterday issued an “orange” temperature alert for Taitung County.
The warning means temperatures of more than 38°C were expected in a single day or temperatures of more than 36°C will likely prevail for at least three consecutive days.
The bureau also issued a “yellow” warning, which indicates temperatures of more than 36°C in a single day, for the Hualien section of the East Rift Valley, the Taipei basin, which includes some of New Taipei City, as well as areas close to mountains or river valleys in Taoyuan, Yunlin County and Chiayi City.
Additional reporting by CNA
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