The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) at 8pm yesterday issued a sea warning for Typhoon In-Fa and said that a land warning might be issued today.
In-Fa was about 540km east-southeast of Taipei and was moving west at 8kph, the bureau said.
It had maximum sustained winds of 144kph, with gusts of up to 180kph, bureau data showed.
The international standard for a typhoon is maximum sustained winds of at least 119kph.
Given that In-Fa has been moving slowly, CWB forecaster Lin Ping-yu (林秉煜) said that the bureau is likely to issue a land warning today, either in the afternoon or in the evening.
Neither the CWB nor the US Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center expect the eye of the storm to make landfall in Taiwan, forecasting that it would veer north and head toward China’s Zhejiang Province.
Photo: Sam Yeh, AFP
However, the typhoon would bring strong wind and heavy rain to northern Taiwan, including Yilan County, today and tomorrow, Lin said.
It would cause high waves along the east coast and Hengchun Peninsula, he said.
Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Cempaka is expected to weaken as it moves west, Lin said.
Cempaka made landfall in China’s Guangdong Province on Tuesday evening, the bureau said.
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