CWA issues rain and wind advisories as Typhoon Kong-rey approaches

Taipei, Oct. 29 (CNA) The Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued heavy rain and wind advisories for parts of Taiwan on Tuesday as the storm Kong-rey, newly strengthened to a typhoon, continued to approach the island from the southeast.

The heavy rain advisory, which the CWA attributed to seasonal northeasterly winds rather than the typhoon, was issued for the Keelung coast and mountainous areas in Taipei, New Taipei and Yilan.

Areas under the advisory could receive over 80 millimeters of rain in a 24-hour period, or over 40 mm in 3 hours, the CWA said.

The CWA also issued a strong wind advisory for Keelung, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu City, Hsinchu County, Miaoli, Taichung, Changhua, Yunlin, Chiayi County, Tainan, Pingtung, Taitung, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu.

The advisory means that those areas could experience sustained strong winds of 41-51 kilometers per hour, as well as gale-force gusts of 63-75 kph.

Meanwhile, the CWA said the eye of Typhoon Kong-rey was located about 835 kilometers southeast of Cape Eluanbi, Taiwan's southernmost tip, as of 8 a.m. Tuesday.

The storm is currently moving northwest at 20 kph, packing maximum sustained winds of 126 kph and gusts of up to 162 kph, the CWA said.

Independent meteorologist Wu Der-rong (吳德榮) said the CWA and most international forecasters now predicted that Kong-rey will make landfall as a typhoon in eastern Taiwan in either Hualien or Taitung county on Thursday.

Taiwan will be hardest hit by the storm on Thursday and Friday. The weather will improve over the weekend, though lingering moisture could bring additional rain to some parts of the country, Wu said.

For more details on the current weather in Taiwan, please visit the Central Weather Administration website.