TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Rain is likely in southern and eastern Taiwan for the rest of the week as a tropical storm forms to the south of Taiwan, while another storm could bring precipitation early next week. 

Meteorologist Daniel Wu (吳德榮) on Wednesday said a tropical depression passing north of Luzon, TD20, is expected to enter waters southwest of Taiwan on Thursday and strengthen into Tropical Storm Mitag. He forecast that Mitag will gradually turn westward, with its outer circulation increasing rainfall potential from Thursday to Friday.

The Central Weather Administration said Mitag will be closest to Taiwan from Thursday to Friday, with showers or thunderstorms in the southeast and Hengchun Peninsula, where heavy or torrential rain is possible. The south, northeast, and east will see scattered showers or thunderstorms, while other regions will be mostly cloudy with isolated afternoon thunderstorms.

Central and southern Taiwan may experience isolated heavy rain, while central Taiwan is also likely to see scattered showers or thunderstorms on Friday. On Saturday, the south and east will see scattered showers or thunderstorms, while central Taiwan may have isolated showers.

Wu said another tropical depression, TD21, east of the Philippines, has a 90% chance of developing into a tropical storm. He predicted that on Monday, the storm’s outer circulation would bring rain to Greater Taipei, Yilan, and Hualien.