Chances of sea warning for Tropical Storm Nalgae slim: CWB

Taipei, Oct. 29 (CNA) With Tropical Storm Nalgae expected to move away from Taiwan, the chances of issuing a sea warning for the storm were slim, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said Saturday.

CWB forecaster Chen I-hsiu (陳伊秀) said the storm was expected to cross over southern Luzon in the Philippines and enter the South China Sea later Saturday and then move in a northwestern direction toward China's Guangdong province Sunday.

"Judging from the path of the storm, the chances of the CWB issuing a sea warning are small," Chen said.

As of 2 p.m. Saturday, Nalgae was located about 110 kilometers southeast of Manila and 900 kilometers south of Taiwan's southern tip, moving in a west-northwest direction at 23 km per hour, according to the CWB.

According to the CWB's typhoon tracking system, the storm is now forecast to veer north after crossing the Philippines but then shift west toward Hainan Island off China's southern coast.

Other services, including the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, have the storm shifting in a northwest direction toward Hong Kong rather than veering west toward Hainan.

As for the weather in Taiwan, Chen said that while the eye of the storm will not threaten the island, areas north of Taoyuan and in the east can expect heavy rains from the storm's periphery starting Sunday night until Nov. 2.

Wu Der-rong (吳德榮), an adjunct associate professor of atmospheric sciences at National Central University, agreed, saying the storm will combine with seasonal northeasterly winds to bring heavy rain to Taiwan.

Whether a sea warning is imposed or not will be less important than the impact of the heavy rains on local weather conditions over the next few days, Wu said.

Due to the precipitation, the CWB said daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan are expected to range between 23 and 24 degrees Celsius over the weekend, and hit 25-26 degrees in central and southern Taiwan.

In the early mornings and nights, temperatures are expected to fall to 19-20 degrees in the north and to 21-22 degrees in central and southern Taiwan.

As for Saturday, the CWB has issued an extremely heavy rain alert for Yilan County in the northeast, and a heavy rain advisory for Taipei and New Taipei in the north and Hualien County in the east, citing the effects of the northeasterly winds.

The CWB said the rain warnings will remain effective into Saturday night.

Under the CWB's definition, heavy rain means accumulated rainfall of 80 mm or more within a 24-hour period or rainfall of 40 mm or more in an hour, while extremely heavy rain is defined as accumulated rainfall of 200 millimeters or more within 24 hours.

The CWB also warned of strong winds in Taoyuan City, Hsinchu City, Hsinchu County and Miaoli County in the north, Taichung City and Changhua County in central Taiwan, and Yunlin County, Chiayi County, Tainan City and the Hengchun Peninsula in the south.