Distant storm affecting Taiwan’s weather: CWB

Tropical Storm Tokage, which is now hovering over waters west of the Philippines, will not hit Taiwan, but the moist air in its outer periphery is affecting the island, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said Sunday as it released heavy rain advisories.

The bureau said the storm's periphery combined with seasonal northeasterly winds should bring an at least 80 percent chance of rain throughout Taiwan on Sunday, with Keelung, mountainous parts of New Taipei, eastern Taiwan and the Hengchun Peninsula in the south expected to see heavy rain.

Based on its forecast, the bureau released heavy rain advisories for New Taipei, Keelung, Yilan, Hualien, Taitung and Pingtung earlier in the day.

Temperatures on Sunday were expected to fall below 20 degrees Celsius in northeastern Taiwan during the day and to range between 21 and 24 degrees in other parts of the country, according to the CWB.

Cheng Ming-dean (???), director of the CWB's Weather Forecast Center, said Tokage's cloud system has merged with the weather front brought by the northeasterly winds.

"This (combined) cloud system will dominate Taiwan's weather for a while," Cheng forecast.

Wu Der-rong (???), a meteorologist and adjunct associate professor of atmospheric sciences at National Central University, predicted Tokage will soon weaken but that a new storm will form in the coming week.

Citing simulations by supercomputers at the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts and other national weather services, Wu said a tropical air disturbance is likely to form over waters southeast of the Philippines in the coming week, and it could develop into the 26th storm in the western Pacific Ocean this year.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel