TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As Typhoon Hinnamnor is gradually integrating the tropical depression to its south and continuing to intensify in the next 12 hours, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said it might issue a sea warning for the typhoon on Friday morning (Sept. 2) and a land warning is also possible.

According to the CWB, Typhoon Hinnamnor was positioned in the sea about 780 km to the east of Taipei and moving southwest at a speed of 25 km per hour at 2 p.m. on Wednesday. It was packing maximum sustained winds of 55 meters per second and gusts of 68 meters per second, with a radius of 220 km of winds over 15 meters per second.

CWB forecaster Lin Ting-i (林定宜) said that the typhoon’s radius might reach 300 km in the next 72 hours, CNA reported.

Affected by the periphery of the typhoon from Wednesday night, winds and rains will gradually intensify in northern Taiwan, and rain showers are expected in the north and northeast, with heavy rain events possible, Lin said. Torrential rainfall in localized areas is possible for Keelung, the northern coast, and mountainous areas of the north, while the other areas will see partly sunny skies and short afternoon thunderstorms, Lin added.

The typhoon is forecast to affect Taiwan the most on Friday and Saturday, and a sea warning could be issued on Friday morning, while the possibility of a land warning being issued will not be excluded, depending on the turning angle of the typhoon as it turns north as well as its radius, according to the forecaster.

The typhoon is forecast to move away on Sunday, when Taiwan will still be affected by its peripheral circulation, with short rain showers expected for many parts of the island, Lin said.

(CWB image)