Downpours could continue to drench northern and central Taiwan Monday as Typhoon Muifa approaches the country, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said Sunday.

The bureau warned that New Taipei and Taoyuan could see “extremely heavy rain,” forecasting accumulated rainfall of 200 millimeters or more within 24 hours, or 100 mm or more in three hours.

In Taipei, Taichung, Keelung City, Yilan County, Hsinchu County, Miaoli County, and Nantou County, there could be “heavy rainfall” reaching 80 mm or more within a 24-hour period, or 40 mm or more in an hour, the CWB said.

As of 8 p.m. Sunday, Wulai District in New Taipei had topped the country with 300 mm of accumulated rainfall, bureau data showed.

At that time, Typhoon Muifa was located 340 kilometers east-southeast of Taipei and was moving in a northerly direction at 9 km per hour, according to the CWB.

It was carrying maximum sustained winds of 155 kph with gusts of up to 191 kph and had a radius of 150 km, the bureau said.

The storm may reach its closest to Taiwan over the next two days, but chances are low for there to be a land warning, forecasters said.

However, the transport ministry cautioned that it would not rule out the possibility of temporarily closing the mountainous provincial highways No. 7 and No. 9A.

Meanwhile, the CWB said that a tropical depression in waters 4,000 km east of Taiwan could develop into storm “Merbok” within the next 24 hours.

The bureau predicted that Merbok would linger around the area until Tuesday before moving north, which means it may neither affect Taiwan nor interact with Muifa.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel