Tropical Storm Ragasa expected to impact Taiwan as typhoon

Taipei, Sept. 19 (CNA) Tropical Storm Ragasa is forecast to strengthen into a typhoon, affecting Taiwan the most from Monday through Wednesday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said Friday.

The storm is expected to continue increasing in strength and size as it heads towards Taiwan, with the possibility of reaching typhoon levels, according to the CWA.

As of 2 p.m. Friday, Ragasa was located about 1,230 kilometers east-southeast of Eluanbi, the island's southernmost point, moving west-northwest towards the Bashi Channel south of Taiwan, said the CWA.

It was packing maximum sustained winds of 72 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 101 kph, according to the CWA.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Mitag is expected to weaken after it made landfall in Guangdong, China Friday afternoon, while Tropical Storm Neoguri remains oversea east-southeast of Japan, still too distant to affect East Asia, the CWA said.