Gaemi strengthens, strong wind warning raised for northeastern Taiwan

Taipei, July 24 (CNA) The Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued a strong wind Public Warning Service (PWS) for Yilan and Hualien counties in eastern Taiwan at 3:21 p.m. Wednesday, following the strengthening of Typhoon Gaemi over the past few hours.

The two counties could see winds averaging over 118 kilometers per hour, or gusts up to 166 kph, the CWA warned in the PWS message, which was sent to the mobile phones of those currently in those areas.

According to CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻), this was the first PWS message for strong winds this year.

Currently, the strongest winds have been observed on outlying Orchid Island, with average wind speeds of over 75 kph and gusts over 133 kph, Huang said.

The eye of the typhoon is currently located off eastern Taiwan and is predicted to make landfall near Yilan and Hualien late Wednesday night, when the winds will be much stronger, warned Huang.

Meanwhile, CWA forecaster Liu Yu-chi (劉宇其) said the outer rim of Gaemi is gradually covering Taiwan as it moves in a west-northwesterly direction.

The typhoon is expected to slow down from Wednesday evening to later in the evening, leaving the island early Thursday morning, Liu said.

However, it could speed up or slow down as it is affected by landfall, possibly leaving Taiwan as late as noon on Friday, Liu said.

Liu also said that Gaemi has a wide depression range at its southern side, meaning that it will bring a lot of humidity along with seasonal southwesterly winds to Taiwan.

The humidity will continue to influence the country even as it moves northwards, bringing significant amounts of precipitation to central and southern Taiwan, he added.

As of 4 p.m. Wednesday, Gaemi was located about 70 kilometers south-southeast of Yilan County in northeast Taiwan, moving northwest at 23 km to 15 km per hour (kph), according to CWA data.

The storm, which continues to strengthen, was packing maximum sustained winds of up to 191 kph, with gusts of up to 234 kph, the data showed.