Tropical Storm Kong-rey strengthening; could make landfall in Taitung

Taipei, Oct. 28 (CNA) Tropical Storm Kong-rey is expected to become a typhoon early Tuesday and could make landfall in Taitung County between late Thursday and early Friday, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA).

As of 2 p.m. Monday, Kong-rey was located 1,030 kilometers east-southeast of Cape Eluanbi, Taiwan's southernmost tip, and was moving west at 7 kilometers per hour (kph).

The tropical storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 101 kph, with gusts of up to 126 kph, CWA data showed.

Kong-rey was strengthening and its radius should expand from 220 km reported at 2 p.m. to 250 km early Tuesday when it is forecast to become a typhoon, and further to 280 km in the subsequent 24-hour period, CWA forecaster Huang En-hung (黃恩鴻) told CNA on Monday afternoon.

The latest forecast indicated that Kong-rey was most likely to make landfall in Taitung in southeastern Taiwan late Thursday or early Friday, with the eye of the storm then moving into the Taiwan Strait through central Taiwan on Friday morning, Huang said.

Taiwan will be most affected by Kong-rey on Thursday and Friday, according to Huang, as heavy rainfall or torrential rain is expected in the northern, eastern and southern parts of the island and mountainous areas in central Taiwan.

In an update posted online at 5:36 p.m., however, the CWA noted that Kong-rey might not make landfall, since there were still variables in its forecast beyond Thursday.

The storm could turn north off the coast of northeastern Taiwan or move through the Bashi Channel between Taiwan and the Philippines, the CWA said in the update.

Whether Kong-rey makes landfall or not, the CWA expected it to bring rain to eastern Taiwan, and high waves and strong winds to coastal areas.

Kong-rey is the name of a girl in Khmer legend submitted by Cambodia. In the Philippines, the storm is known as Leon.