The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) yesterday said that it was not likely to issue a sea alert for tropical storm Fung-wong (鳳凰) as the storm is forecast to move farther away from Taiwan.
As of 2pm yesterday, Fung-wong was 420km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving northwest at 14kph.
Data from the bureau also showed that its maximum wind speed reached 108kph, with its radius expanding to 120km.
Bureau forecaster Kuan Hsin-ping (官欣平) said that since Wednesday night, the storm’s projected path has largely moved toward the east, meaning it is moving away from the nation.
As such, chances of the bureau issuing a sea alert have reduced dramatically, Kuan said, but added that there could be a small chance that the storm would move slightly west.
Fung-wong had reached the peak of its lifecycle yesterday, and its intensity was forecast to start decreasing last night because of lower sea temperatures, he said.
It is also about to enter an environment with a large wind shear, which tends to damage the structure of a storm, he said, adding that it could be downgraded to a tropical depression today.
Although the nation is expected to be spared from a direct impact from the storm, Fung-wong’s circumference had started affecting the weather yesterday, bringing strong winds nationwide, as well as late-night showers to Yilan County, the north coast and mountainous areas in the Greater Taipei area, Kuan said.
Rain brought by the storm is forecast to gradually ease this afternoon, he said.
The nation would be under the influence of the northeast wind over the weekend, he said.
Except for showers in the windward areas in the northern and eastern regions, cloudy to sunny skies are forecast for the rest of the nation.
Temperatures across the nation today and during the weekend are forecast to drop to between 18°C and 22°C due to the weakening of the northeast monsoon, he said.
Highs in the north today would be between 24°C and 25°C due to the rain, but they would rebound to 26°C and 28°C, Kuan said.
High temperatures in central and southern Taiwan would be about 30°C, he added.
A stronger northeast monsoon is forecast to arrive on Sunday night, with high temperatures in the north easing to between 22°C and 25°C next week, he said.
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