Taiwan expected to see strongest Gaemi impact Wednesday, Thursday

Taipei, July 22 (CNA) Winds and rain brought by approaching Tropical Storm Gaemi will be strongest on Wednesday and Thursday, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA).

The CWA said on Monday that the eye of Gaemi is expected to be closest to Taiwan between Tuesday and Thursday.

As of 8 a.m. Monday, the storm was located about 700 kilometers (km) southeast of Eluanbi, Taiwan's southernmost tip, moving at 8 kilometers per hour (kph) in a north northwesterly direction, the CWA said.

The eye of the 120-kilometer-radius storm is expected to be 600 km southeast of Eluanbi by early Tuesday morning, the CWA added.

The CWA said Gaemi could gain momentum and become a typhoon, but there are still uncertainties over the storm's movement. The agency will closely monitor its development.

Update: Gaemi strengthens into typhoon, likely to make landfall in Yilan (July 22)

Echoing the CWA, WeatherRisk, a private weather forecasting company, said the eye of the storm is likely to pass over the northeast tip and northeastern coastal area of the country between Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

On its Facebook page, WeatherRisk said the storm's radius will cover areas north of Chiayi and Taitung with the Greater Taipei area and Taoyuan City in northern Taiwan and Yilan in the east likely to feel the strongest impact of the winds and rain.

After pounding Taiwan, WeatherRisk said, Gaemi is forecast to move toward the coastal area of China's Zhejiang province from Thursday afternoon.

Wu Der-rong (吳德榮), an adjunct associate professor of atmospheric sciences at National Central University, said precipitation will bring cooler weather around Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday.

Temperatures are then expected to rise on Friday, Wu added.

According to the CWA, highs around Taiwan will drop to between 32 and 33 degrees Celsius during the storm.

On Monday, sunny skies are expected to persist with daytime temperatures forecast to range between 33 and 36 degrees. Highs could surpass 37 degrees between New Taipei and Hsinchu, and in the south, the CWA said.

The weather administration advised people to take precautionary measures to avoid sunburn and to stay hydrated outdoors.