Taiwan to be clear of typhoon's radius by late Saturday: CWA

Taipei, July 11 (CNA) Taiwan will be outside the storm radius of Typhoon Bavi by late Saturday night or early Sunday morning after it reached the island's northeastern tip at around 1 a.m. Saturday, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA).

CWA forecaster Lin Po-dong (林伯東) said Bavi continued to head northwest after its radius, defined by sustained winds of 50-61 kilometers per hour, hit Taiwan, and the storm's eye is expected to come closest to Taiwan from Saturday afternoon to evening.

Lin said the storm's strongest impact on Taiwan will be felt from Saturday morning to afternoon.

As of 7 a.m. Saturday, the center of the typhoon was located about 330 kilometers east of Taipei, moving northwest at 27 km per hour, according to the CWA.

The storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 144 kph near its center, with gusts reaching 180 kph, the CWA said.

Lin said that although Bavi's storm radius shrank to 350 km from 380 km on Friday, it could still bring heavy rain and strong winds to Taiwan, with heavy rain in the Greater Taipei area likely Saturday afternoon as Bavi's eye moves closer.

The CWA has issued torrential or extreme torrential rain advisories for all of New Taipei, Shilin and Beitou districts in Taipei, all of Taoyuan City and Hsinchu County, and mountainous parts of Miaoli, Yilan, Nantou and Chiayi counties and Taichung.

An extreme torrential rain alert means rain exceeds 500 millimeters in 24 hours, while a torrential rain advisory indicates rainfall surpasses 350mm in 24 hours or 200mm in three hours.

Extreme heavy rain alerts, indicating rain exceeding 200mm in 24 hours or 100mm in three hours, have been issued for Keelung City, most of Taipei, Hsinchu City, coastal Miaoli County, the northern half of Yilan County and mountainous parts of Kaohsiung and Pingtung County.

Lin said areas north of Tainan and eastern Taiwan are facing winds of 63-87 kph, and the CWA has issued strong wind advisories for northern Taiwan, Yilan and the Hengchun Peninsula, warning of wind speeds of 76-117 kph.

As of 9:10 a.m., the largest amount of rainfall recorded around Taiwan on Saturday was 247.5mm in Yilan County's Datong Township, followed by 221mm in Hsinchu County's Jianshi Township and 209.5mm in Taoyuan's Fuxing District, CWA data showed.

All of these are mountainous areas, and CWA rain distribution maps for both Saturday and Friday and Saturday combined indicated that the biggest accumulations of rainfall have occurred in Taiwan's northern mountains.