CWA issues rain and wind advisories as typhoon approaches

Taipei, July 23 (CNA) The Central Weather Administration (CWA) has issued heavy rain advisories for Tuesday in northern, northeastern and southern parts of Taiwan as Typhoon Gaemi continues to approach the island.

In effect from early afternoon through the night, heavy rain advisories have been issued for the Keelung coast, Yilan County, Hualien County, Tainan, and Pingtung County and mountainous areas in New Taipei.

An extremely heavy rain advisory was also issued for Kaohsiung City, according to the CWA.

Meanwhile, the CWA has also issued strong wind advisories for most of Taiwan, in effect from early Tuesday afternoon through Thursday night.

The only cities and counties excluded from the advisory are Taipei, Nantou County, and Chiayi City, which do not have coastlines, as well as Hualien County and the outlying Kinmen County.

The CWA said the intensity and size of the typhoon has increased since Tuesday noon, and the trend is expected to continue in the coming hours.

The CWA issued a land warning for eastern Taiwan and New Taipei at 11:30 a.m., but that has been extended to cover the whole northern half of Taiwan and excludes only Tainan and Pingtung County.

CWA forecaster Liu Yu-chi (劉宇其) said the eye of the typhoon is expected to pass through northern Taiwan late Wednesday night to early Thursday morning.

Before that, the storm's periphery is forecast to touch Taiwan Wednesday, with the wind and rain expected to be strongest between Wednesday night and Thursday, Liu said.

The western half of Taiwan and mountainous areas in Yilan and Taitung may see torrential rains on Thursday, with the rain subsiding on Friday.

By then, central and southern Taiwan should watch for localized extremely heavy rain, due to Gaemi's peripheral circulation, he said.

In terms of accumulated precipitation, the CWA forecast mountainous regions of southern Taiwan could see up to 1,800 millimeters of rain during the four-day covering Tuesday to Friday.

Taichung City could get up to 1,500 mm of rain during that same time frame, while Yilan and Yunlin counties are forecast to see up to 1,300 mm of rain, and Taitung County could get up to 1,200 mm, according to the CWA.