Taiwan Today

A typhoon and two tropical depressions moving with it do not augur well for the Mid-Autumn Festival Oct. 3, according to the Central Weather Bureau Sept. 29. This year’s 17th typhoon, Parma, formed 2,500 kilometers southeast of Taiwan Sept. 29, pulling two tropical depressions to its east along with it in a west-northwesterly direction. The three unusually turbulent storms are 1,000 kilometers apart from each other, forming a line from west to east on the Pacific at latitude 10 degrees north. The furthest depression could turn into a typhoon at any time. They will affect Taiwan in the next few days, and the Central Weather Bureau is closely monitoring the potential threat from wind and rain. CWB forecaster Douglas Hsiao said that however Parma and the tropical depressions influence each other, even if the storms do not directly hit Taiwan, their turbulence will create a huge low pressure area on the Pacific. With easterly winds predominating, northern and eastern Taiwan can expect rain this week. Hsiao said as Typhoon Ketsana has made landfall on the Indochina peninsula it should lose strength and downgrade to a tropical depression within 24 hours, with reduced water vapor in its periphery, leading to less rain in most areas. However, with a front passing, there will be rain showers Oct. 1 and 2. Oct. 3, the Mid-Autumn Festival, there will be heavy cloud cover in the north and east, with increased chances of rain. The moon is more likely to be visible in central and southern Taiwan then. After Oct. 4 conditions will depend on how Parma and the two more easterly tropical depressions develop. Hsiao said these three storms exhibit roughly equal turbulence, and as the high pressure area over the Pacific weakens, their paths will be pulled northward and they could influence each other, creating complex changes in their movements. Whether they will hit Taiwan directly depends on many variables, but their peripheries are likely to affect the whole island beginning Oct. 4, bringing scattered rain showers throughout Taiwan until Oct. 6. (THN)