Tropical Storm In-Fa intensifying and heading for northeastern Taiwan
Tropical Storm In-Fa is looking more likely to strike Taiwan according to forecasts by local and international weather agencies, and sea and land warnings could by issued as early as tomorrow says Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau.
In-Fa, this year’s sixth named tropical storm is currently located around 800 kilometers east of Taiwan and moving west at a speed of around 14 kilometers per hour, according to the CWB. The storm has a central pressure of 980 hPa with maximum sustained windspeed near the center of 28 meters per second and gusts up to 35 meters per second.
In-Fa is expected to intensify to moderate typhoon status later today, July 20, the CWB said.
While In-Fa is not considered a strong typhoon, its slow movement means that it is likely to affect Taiwan for a considerable period of time, and CWB Director-General Cheng Ming-Dean warned people to be prepared and get into disaster prevention mode.
A sea warning could be issued as early as tomorrow morning and a land warning as early as tomorrow evening, the CWB said.
CWB meteorologists warned that the storm’s outer circulation will begin to affect Taiwan’s weather as early as tomorrow, Wednesday, July 21, with short showers and thunderstorms in the north and northeast. The possibility of rain will increase Thursday, and the storm is expected to make landfall late Friday or early Saturday bringing rain to all of Taiwan.
The US military’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center predicts that In-Fa will intensify, possibly rapidly, due to decreasing vertical wind shear and conducive sea surface temperatures as it tracks westward towards Taiwan.
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