Tropical Storm Son Tinh will not affect Taiwan directly, but another tropical depression near the Philippines has the potential of turning into a tropical storm, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday.
Son Tinh formed at 8am yesterday, the bureau said. As of 2pm, the storm’s center was 620km southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻). It was moving west at 40kph.
Although Son Tinh could become a typhoon, it would not affect the nation directly, the bureau said.
However, the bureau would be monitoring a tropical depression off the east coast of the Philippines, as it could turn into a tropical storm and move toward Taiwan, it said.
The storm, if it forms, would be named Ampil, which in Cambodian is a kind of tropical fruit, the bureau said, adding that it could start affecting the weather on Friday.
From Friday to Sunday, showers and thunderstorms are forecast in northern and northeastern regions, as well as the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島), due to the influence of the tropical depression, the bureau said, adding that more regions could be affected if the tropical depression turns into a tropical storm.
The bureau said that Taiwan would be under the influence of a dominant low pressure system between today and Monday next week, which would raise the humidity and make the weather unstable.
Chances of showers and thunderstorms are high on the east coast and in the south, while cloudy to sunny skies with isolated afternoon thunderstorms are forecast for the rest of the nation, the bureau said.
Former bureau weather forecast center director Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said the tropical depression off the east coast of the Philippines is very likely to turn into a tropical storm, based on the forecasts of meteorologists in the US and Europe.
The system would move close to the nation’s east and northeast coasts by Friday or Saturday, Wu said.
However, uncertainty remains as to how the storm would progress, so it would require further observations, he said.
Weatherrisk Explore Inc chief executive Peng Chi-ming (彭啟明) said that more tropical disturbances could emerge due to the influence of the dominant low pressure system.
During the typhoon season, it is not unusual to see one or even two storms or typhoons forming within a week, he said, citing historical data for July and August, adding that there is no need to panic.
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