Taipei: The Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued a land warning for Tropical Storm Danas on Saturday night as the storm’s outer bands began bringing heavier rain to Taiwan. The CWA issued the land warning at 8:30 p.m. for Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Chiayi cities, as well as Chiayi and Pingtung Counties in southern Taiwan, indicating that those areas are expected to be within the storm’s outer rim within 18 hours. The warning also extends to Taiwan’s outlying Penghu County.

According to Focus Taiwan, the storm developed at 2 a.m. near the Pratas Islands in the South China Sea, having intensified from a tropical depression. As of 8:30 p.m., the eye of the storm was located 330 kilometers west-southwest of Cape Eluanbi, Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving north-northeast at 10 to 20 kilometers per hour. It was carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of 83 kph, with gusts of up to 108 kph.

According to CWA forecaster Liu Yu-chi, the storm is showing signs of strengthening and will pass through the Taiwan Strait between the latter half of Sunday and early Monday. Although the eye of the storm might not directly make landfall on Taiwan, its outer band and storm radius are likely to bring extremely heavy rain to the region.

The CWA anticipated that the storm would have its greatest impact on locations south of Chiayi County and the outlying Penghu County. It forecasted that Tropical Storm Danas would affect locations south of Chiayi as well as in Hualien and Taitung counties on Taiwan’s eastern seaboard with brief showers and thundershowers, possibly heavy rain or localized extremely heavy rain. Other locations around Taiwan could also experience localized brief showers and thundershowers due to Danas.

As of Saturday night, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Chiayi City, along with Chiayi and Pingtung counties, had announced the closure of offices and schools on Sunday due to the approaching storm. Offices and schools in Penghu County will also be closed, but only starting at noon on Sunday.