The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) yesterday said it could issue a sea alert for Tropical Storm Lionrock today as the system moves closer to the Taiwan Strait.
At 2pm, the center of Lionrock, which formed early on Sunday, was 424km southwest of Hengchun (恆春), Pingtung County. It was moving northeast at 5kph.
Another system, Tropical Storm Kompasu, which formed at 8pm on Sunday, was 1,060km east of Taipei. It was moving northwest at 11kph. A tropical depression that has been lingering off the northeast coast was upgraded to a tropical storm last night, the bureau said, adding that it would issue a land and sea alert later in the evening.
PHOTO: CNA
The bureau said it would be in a better position to determine whether Lionrock would make landfall tomorrow.
With Taiwan surrounded by three tropical storms, the bureau said northern regions should brace for extremely heavy or torrential rain. Chances of heavy to extremely heavy rain are high in the northeastern, central and southern parts of the country. Eastern and southeastern regions, as well as Penghu, should also prepare for heavy rain.
The highest accumulations occurred in Zhuzihu (竹仔湖), Beitou, yesterday with rainfall reaching 210.5mm.
This was followed by Yangmingshan and Xiaoyoukeng (小油坑), with 200mm. The heaviest accumulations were concentrated around Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan County, the bureau said.
In related news, the nation was shaken by a magnitude 5.2 earthquake at 4:45pm yesterday.
The temblor’s epicenter was located 39.1km northeast of the bureau’s observation station in Yilan City. The depth of the earthquake was 16.5km.
The quake reached an intensity of 4 in Taipei County’s Sandiaojiao (三貂角), Gongliao (貢寮) and Wufenshan (五分山), 3 in Yilan County’s Suao (蘇澳) and Hualien County’s Heping (和平), and 2 in Taipei City and Taoyuan City.
At press time, there were no reports of damage. The Hsinchu Science Industrial Park said the quake did not affect manufacturing operations.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY CNA
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