Japan Calls Typhoon over Taiwan

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) has named the tropical depression currently dumping rain on Taiwan, Typhoon Kemi, making it the 6th named tropical storm for 2018. Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau (CWB) is not yet calling it a typhoon.

JMA upgraded the low-pressure system’s status to typhoon status at 9:10am this morning as it made landfall in Taiwan’s south-west. The storm has a central air pressure of 992hPa.

However, CWB believes that the tropical depression has not yet reached mild typhoon status and did not issue land and sea warnings.

The CWB said that JMA made estimates based on satellite data, but Taiwan has an extensive array of instruments including satellite, radar, sea buoys, and weather stations within the perimeter of the weather system, and data shows that maximum wind speed are too low, and the structure of the storm is not symmetrical.

Data also shows that intensity has weakened, and will continue to weaken over land. Therefore, the CWB has not upgraded the storm to tropical typhoon status.

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