Orchid Island reports Taiwan's highest-ever sustained wind speed

Taipei, Oct. 31 (CNA) Orchid Island, off Taiwan's southeast coast, recorded a sustained wind speed of 213 kilometers per hour on Thursday, the highest ever at a staffed weather station in Taiwan, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA).

The record wind speed was measured early Thursday as Typhoon Kong-rey bore down on Taiwan from the southeast.

At a press briefing, CWA forecaster Chu Mei-lin (朱美霖) noted that the 213 kph wind speed was not an isolated gust, but a sustained 10-minute average.

The same Orchid Island weather station also measured a 343 kph wind gust during Typhoon Koinu on Oct. 5 last year, according to Chu.

That wind gust was the strongest measured on Orchid Island in 126 years and broke the station's measuring device, Chu said.