A sea alert for Typhoon In-Fa could be issued this morning as it moves toward Taiwan, although it remains uncertain if its center would make landfall, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday.
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Cempaka was upgraded to a typhoon yesterday morning as it moved north toward China’s Guangdong Province, the bureau said.
As of 2pm yesterday, In-Fa was classified as a tropical storm and was centered 800km east of Taipei, moving west at 13kph with maximum sustained winds of 101kph.
Photo: Lu Hsien-hsiu, Taipei Times
It was upgraded to a moderate typhoon at 8pm yesterday evening.
In other news, the bureau yesterday announced that it had completed the installation and renovation of 576 automatic weather observation stations nationwide.
The 14-year project had cost NT$290 million (US$10.33 million), the bureau said.
Photo courtesy of the Central Weather Bureau via CNA
The automatic system, including 437 weather observation stations and 139 rain observation stations, would enable the agency to collect meteorological data that could be used to prevent damage and casualties caused by flooding, mudflows and landslides, it said.
The bureau has since 1985 budgeted funding annually to build the 24-hour automatic weather observation system, it said.
By 2005, 257 rain observation stations and 119 weather observation stations had been installed.
Between 2006 and last year, the bureau gradually retired old stations and installed new ones, it said.
With advances in weather forecast technology, the bureau also upgraded some of the rain observation stations so that they are able to monitor changes in temperature, humidity, air pressure and wind speed.
That helped raise the density of observation stations nationwide, it added.
The system not only enhances the efficiency of the weather forecast service, it also enables the agency to more accurately forecast occurrences of topography-induced weather, such as high temperatures in the East Rift Valley between Hualien and Taitung, strong precipitation in the mountainous areas of New Taipei City, and Yilan and Pingtung counties, as well as katabatic wind in the Hengchun Peninsula.
Weather data collected by the system would allow the agency to issue timely alerts for typhoons and other extreme weather events, and it can also be used in scientific research, the bureau said.
A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Yilan at 11:05pm yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The epicenter was located at sea, about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km, CWA data showed There were no immediate reports of damage. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Yilan County area on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. It measured 4 in other parts of eastern, northern and central Taiwan as well as Tainan, and 3 in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County, and 2 in Lienchiang and Penghu counties and 1
FOREIGN INTERFERENCE: Beijing would likely intensify public opinion warfare in next year’s local elections to prevent Lai from getting re-elected, the ‘Yomiuri Shimbun’ said Internal documents from a Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) company indicated that China has been using the technology to intervene in foreign elections, including propaganda targeting Taiwan’s local elections next year and presidential elections in 2028, a Japanese newspaper reported yesterday. The Institute of National Security of Vanderbilt University obtained nearly 400 pages of documents from GoLaxy, a company with ties to the Chinese government, and found evidence that it had apparently deployed sophisticated, AI-driven propaganda campaigns in Hong Kong and Taiwan to shape public opinion, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported. GoLaxy provides insights, situation analysis and public opinion-shaping technology by conducting network surveillance
Taiwan is gearing up to celebrate the New Year at events across the country, headlined by the annual countdown and Taipei 101 fireworks display at midnight. Many of the events are to be livesteamed online. See below for lineups and links: Taipei Taipei’s New Year’s Party 2026 is to begin at 7pm and run until 1am, with the theme “Sailing to the Future.” South Korean girl group KARA is headlining the concert at Taipei City Hall Plaza, with additional performances by Amber An (安心亞), Nick Chou (周湯豪), hip-hop trio Nine One One (玖壹壹), Bii (畢書盡), girl group Genblue (幻藍小熊) and more. The festivities are to
AFTERMATH: The Taipei City Government said it received 39 minor incident reports including gas leaks, water leaks and outages, and a damaged traffic signal A magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck off Taiwan’s northeastern coast late on Saturday, producing only two major aftershocks as of yesterday noon, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The limited aftershocks contrast with last year’s major earthquake in Hualien County, as Saturday’s earthquake occurred at a greater depth in a subduction zone. Saturday’s earthquake struck at 11:05pm, with its hypocenter about 32.3km east of Yilan County Hall, at a depth of 72.8km. Shaking was felt in 17 administrative regions north of Tainan and in eastern Taiwan, reaching intensity level 4 on Taiwan’s seven-tier seismic scale, the CWA said. In Hualien, the
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