TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Super Typhoon Hinnamnor has fully absorbed a tropical depression, causing it to increase in size and prompting forecasters to predict that Taiwan will issue a sea warning on Friday (Sept. 1).
As of 2 p.m. today (Sept. 1), Super Typhoon Hinnamnor was located at 21.8 degrees north latitude and 125.5 degrees east longitude, moving south-southwest at a speed of eight kilometers per hour. Its radius has swollen to 250 km and was packing maximum sustained winds of 190 kph and gusts of up to 234 kph, the CWB reported.
CWB forecaster Hsieh Pei-yun (謝佩芸) said the Hinnamnor's periphery has begun to affect the weather throughout Taiwan and the impact will be strongest in the next two days, especially on the north coast of Keelung and mountainous areas of northern Taiwan. Hsieh advised the public to beware of severe and torrential rainfall as well as strong wind gusts and large waves, with seaside activities to be avoided unless absolutely necessary.
(JTWC image)
Hsieh predicted that the typhoon will be closest to Taiwan from Saturday (Sept. 3) to Sunday morning (Sept. 4). By Sunday afternoon, Hsieh forecast that conditions will begin to calm as the typhoon shifts north toward Japan and South Korea.
As for warnings, Hsieh said that it is possible the CWB will issue a sea warning on Friday morning. If the typhoon's route shifts west or the radius of the storm expands when it heads north, Hsieh said that it is possible that a land warning could be issued as well.
(CWB image)
The forecaster said that although the typhoon is currently located 540 kilometers to the east of Taipei, its outer cloud systems are quite close to the waters off of Taiwan. Hsieh said models predict the typhoon will first move to the south where it would loiter for about a day before slowly moving north again on Friday afternoon.
According to Hsieh, after Saturday, the typhoon will move northward due to a high-pressure ridge in the east, but its future path is still uncertain, and "a slight deviation will have a big impact on the weather in Taiwan." He, therefore, advised the public to closely monitor weather reports in the coming days.
Wind radii probability. (CWB image)
(NOAA image)
(NOAA image)
(NOAA image)
(NOAA image)
