A tropical depression that formed Wednesday east of the Philippines that could develop into a tropical storm is unlikely to have a significant impact on Taiwan, according to the Central Weather Bureau (CWB).

As of 2 p.m. Wednesday, the weather system was moving westward at 4 kilometers per hour, and was packing sustained winds of 54 kph and gusts of up to 82.8 kph, the weather bureau said.

Based on current forecasts, the depression could develop into a tropical storm over the next two days, but it is not expected to have a major effect on Taiwan, CWB forecaster Lin Ting-yi (???) told CNA.

A tropical storm is defined as having maximum sustained winds of 62-117 kph. Storms with maximum sustained winds above this range are classified as typhoons.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel