Taipei: Southern and eastern Taiwan are bracing for heavy rainfall from Monday through Wednesday, with certain areas facing the risk of flooding and landslides, as reported by the Central Weather Administration (CWA). Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula are expected to experience the heaviest rainfall due to a combination of a low-pressure system, strengthening southwesterly winds, and a tropical depression, the CWA indicated.
According to Focus Taiwan, other affected areas include Kaohsiung, Pingtung, Hualien, and the outlying Lanyu and Green islands. Warnings have been issued for lightning, strong wind gusts, flooding in low-lying areas, landslides, falling rocks, and rapidly rising rivers. The CWA has issued an advisory for heavy to extremely heavy rain, predicting accumulated rainfall of more than 200 mm in 24 hours or 100 mm within three hours.
A heavy rain alert is defined by the CWA as accumulated rainfall of more than 80 mm in 24 hours or 40 mm in one hour. Additionally, a strong wind advisory has been issued for various locations, including Orchid Island, Green Island, New Taipei, Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung, Yilan, and the outlying Penghu and Lienchiang counties. Sustained winds are expected to reach 41-51 kilometers per hour, with gusts of up to 75 kph.
CWA forecaster Huang En-hung informed that the unstable weather is set to persist through Wednesday, primarily due to strengthening southwesterly winds and a tropical depression. This system, previously known as Typhoon Saudel and now referred to as Tropical Depression TD20, is moving towards southern China and could regain tropical storm strength within 24 hours.
As of Monday morning, TD20 was centered near Hainan Island and was projected to turn northeast towards Guangdong. While it may briefly regain tropical storm strength, it is anticipated to weaken over southern China due to prevailing environmental conditions. The CWA noted that if the system weakens more slowly than expected, a sea warning might be issued, although the likelihood is low as the system is forecasted to remain west of Taiwan.
Meanwhile, a different low-pressure system near Taiwan has merged into a broader low-pressure area and is expected to be absorbed by TD20 as it moves south of the Taiwan Strait. Another tropical depression, TD27, formed over waters east of Taiwan on Monday morning and is expected to move south of the Ryukyu Islands without directly impacting Taiwan, as per the CWA.