A tropical depression east of the Philippines became a tropical storm named Trami at 2am today, and is projected to move west-northwest toward waters east of Luzon Island in the Philippines, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said.
As of 8am, Trami's center was 700km east of Manila, or 1,180km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻) (Taiwan's southernmost point), moving in a northwestern direction.
It was carrying maximum sustained winds of 65kph, with gusts of up to 90kph, CWA data showed.
Photo courtesy of the Central Weather Administration
The weather agency forecast that the center of the storm would pass over waters 470km east-northeast of Manila or 820km southeast of Oluanpi at 8am tomorrow, and urged ships sailing in the Bashi Channel and east of the Philippines to closely watch Trami's movements.
Independent meteorologist Wu Der-rong (吳德榮) did not expect the storm to have a direct impact on Taiwan, and said Trami's core structure was loose and unlikely to intensify into a typhoon.
Yet while the probability of a direct hit on Taiwan has fallen below 8 percent, the storm could bring significant rainfall to eastern Taiwan because of its size, he said.
Other storms named Trami, a moniker submitted by Vietnam that refers to a tree in the rose family, have caused serious damage to Taiwan twice before, in 2001 and 2013.
In 2001, Tropical Storm Trami caused severe flooding in the Kaohsiung area and left more than 136,000 households without power.
In 2013, Tropical Storm Trami caused widespread flooding in western Taiwan and landslides in northern and central mountainous areas.
As for today's weather, the CWA said there would be scattered brief showers along the northern and northeastern coasts of Taiwan, as well as in Yilan County and in mountainous regions in the greater Taipei area this morning.
The agency forecast that intensifying northeasterly winds would bring continuous rainfall in the afternoon to those same regions.
There is also a chance of localized heavy rain, particularly in the northeastern mountains, where torrential rain may occur, the CWA said.
Elsewhere, northern and eastern Taiwan and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) may experience occasional showers, while central and southern Taiwan and the outlying Penghu, Kinmen and Lienchiang counties would remain mostly cloudy to sunny.
Due to the strengthening northeasterly winds, northern and northeastern Taiwan are to see a noticeable drop in the mercury, with daytime highs across Taiwan hitting 26°C to 33°C.
Lows are to hover between 23°C and 25°C, the CWA said.
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