After one of the driest years on record, tropical weather systems have recently brought heavy rains to all parts of Taiwan. And weather officials say that there could be more rain heading our way.
The hot summer sun beats down on Taipei City. It’s a big change from the heavy rains of last week. But the sunny weather might not be here for much longer.
Central Weather Bureau meteorologist Lin Ping-yu says that a tropical depression east of Taiwan could become Typhoon Omais by Wednesday or Thursday. But he says there’s still a lot of uncertainty about its exact path.
Right now, the tropical depression is passing by Guam, about 3000 km from Taiwan. And different countries have very different predictions about where it could end up.
The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts predicts the depression will curve up towards Japan. However, the US Joint Typhoon Warning Center and Japan Meteorological Agency think it will pass by just south of Taiwan. It’ll be Thursday or Friday before it approaches the main island.
Taiwan’s weather bureau says we should know where the depression is heading by Wednesday. Before then, Taiwan’s north and east are set for temperatures over 35C. But there could be heavy rain in the afternoons starting on Wednesday.
Lin says there will be showers in northern Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday. Other areas will be cloudy, with a chance of thunderstorms in the afternoons.
Until then, the sunny weather continues. The bureau has issued an orange heat alert for Taitung County. And it’s asking people to take care when venturing out to soak up the summer sun.