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進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Up to five storms or typhoons expected by year-end
Central Weather Administration Weather Forecast Center Director Huang Treng-shi speaks at a news conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Hunag Yi-ching, Taipei Times
/ Staff writer, with CNA
Three to five tropical storms or typhoons are expected to pass near Taiwan during the second half of this year, the Central Weather Administration （CWA） said yesterday.
That range is within the historical average, while the total number of tropical storms forming over the northwestern Pacific is forecast to be normal to slightly below normal, the agency said.
Eight tropical storms had formed in the northwestern Pacific between January and last month, well above the historical average of 4.3 for the period, it said.
This year is only the third year in which a tropical storm has formed in every month from January through June, following 1965 and 2015.
Warming sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific indicate that El Nino is developing and is likely to persist into next spring, CWA Weather Forecast Center Director Huang Treng-shi （黃椿喜） told a news conference about this year’s typhoon season.
During El Nino years, tropical storms tend to form farther east over the Pacific, allowing more time to intensify over warm ocean waters and increasing the likelihood of stronger storms, he said.
The CWA expects typhoon activity to be relatively strong this month before weakening next month and September.
Beginning today, the first day of Taiwan’s typhoon season, the CWA is to introduce new coastal wave warning protocols, under which cell broadcast alerts to be issued when waves of 6m or higher are forecast along coastal areas.
In related news, Taiwan this year recorded its wettest plum rain season since 2012, with rainfall at the Taipei weather station setting a record for June, the agency said.
This year’s plum rain season, which ran from May to last month, was marked by below-average rainfall in May, but significantly heavier rain last month, Huang said.
He attributed last month’s rainfall to stationary fronts, southwesterly airflows and the outer circulation of a tropical storm, factors that brought widespread rain to western Taiwan.
Rain fell for more than 10 days during the first half of last month, with southern Taiwan receiving 40cm to 80cm of accumulated rainfall, Huang said.
Late last month, hourly rainfall reached 8cm to 13cm in western Taiwan, while parts of Pingtung County in the south recorded nearly 1m of rainfall over three days.
The CWA said nationwide rainfall during this year’s plum rain season averaged 60.99cm, well above the historical average of 44.07cm, making it the highest since 2012, when there was 90.2cm of rainfall.
The Taipei weather station recorded 87.05cm of rainfall last month, making it the wettest June since records began in 1897, surpassing the previous highs of 75.77cm in 1991 and 71.16cm in 1947.
The CWA forecast normal to above-normal temperatures and near-normal rainfall in Taiwan from this month through September.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
