Typhoon Bavi sea and land warnings could be lifted early Sunday

Taipei, July 11 (CNA) The Central Weather Administration (CWA) could lift its sea and land warnings for Typhoon Bavi as early as Sunday morning as the storm moves away from Taiwan, the agency said Saturday.

Typhoon Bavi will be closest to Taiwan and bring the strongest winds and heaviest rainfall from Saturday afternoon to evening, as sea and land warnings for the typhoon remain in effect, the CWA said.

The island of Taiwan, however, should be outside of Bavi's storm radius, defined by winds of 50-61 kilometers per hour (level 7 on the Beaufort scale), by Sunday morning, which could lead to the removal of the warnings, the CWA said.

As of 1 p.m. Saturday, Bavi's center was located about 250 kilometers east-northeast of Taipei.

The storm was packing maximum sustained winds of 144 kilometers per hour near its center, with gusts reaching 173 kph, the CWA said.

The CWA said Bavi's storm radius had already reached land in areas north of Taichung, as well as Nantou, Yilan and Hualien counties.

CWA Forecast Center section chief Lin Po-tung (林伯東) said at a typhoon briefing Saturday morning that Bavi had weakened slightly. Still, its radius of level 7 winds remained 350 kilometers and its radius of level 10 winds was 120 kilometers.

He said the CWA's heavy rain advisories were still in effect and forecast that mountainous areas north of Taichung were likely to get extreme torrential rain, while northern Taiwan and mountainous parts of Yilan, Nantou, Yunlin and Chiayi counties were likely to see torrential rain in the afternoon.

After nightfall, as the storm moves over waters north of Taiwan, rain is expected to continue in mountainous areas of central and southern Taiwan while gradually easing in the north.

In terms of wind conditions, Lin said strong gusts have been recorded across Taiwan. The Hengchun Peninsula and Orchid Island (Lanyu), located off the coast of southeastern Taiwan, have seen gusts approaching level 14 on the Beaufort scale (149 to 165 kilometers per hour).

The CWA has therefore issued a strong wind warning for the Hengchun Peninsula and Orchid Island, as well as a huge wave warning for the Matsu Islands.

(By Huang Chiao-wen and Lee Chieh-yu) enditem/ls