Next year will set the record of having the lowest number of typhoons in the nation’s history, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) forecast yesterday.
The bureau forecast in June that 22 to 23 typhoons would form in the northwest Pacific Ocean during this year’s typhoon season, but only 14 actually formed.
Statistics from the CWB showed that the second-lowest number occurred in 1998, which had 17 typhoons. While there were only 14 typhoons in the northwest Pacific this year, the bureau issued both sea and land warnings for five of them.
In contrast, 22 typhoons formed in the same region last year, but the bureau only issued sea and land warnings for four of them.
Lin Hsiu-wen (林秀雯), deputy director of the bureau’s weather forecast center, said the high air pressures over the Pacific Ocean were too strong this year, making it difficult for typhoons or tropical storms to form. Lin said the climate data collected in the past 30 years showed that an average of 26.6 typhoons formed in the northwest Pacific each year.
On average, 3.1 of them hit the nation. However, only 22 to 24 typhoons formed in the region each year between 2005 and last year, Lin said. However, having few typhoons does not mean less damage, she said.
Typhoon Fanapi, which hit the nation in September, caused floods in Kaohsiung. Typhoon Megi, on the other hand, had devastated the Suhua Highway (蘇花公路).
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