The eye of Typhoon Qiangpitai continues to approach Taiwan! Meteorological Administration: It is not ruled out that the center of the typhoon will pass through Yilan and the northeast corner

The center of Typhoon Qiangpi continues to approach Taiwan. The Central Meteorological Administration stated late at night yesterday (23rd) that the period from late night to early this morning is when the typhoon is closest to Taiwan, and Qiangpi continues to move westward. It cannot be ruled out that its typhoon center will slowly pass by Yilan and the northeastern corner. These areas should pay special attention to strong winds and heavy rain tonight.

Lin Bingyu, chief of the meteorological forecast section of the Meteorological Administration, said that late last night, the center of Typhoon Qiangpi had reached the east coast of Yilan. In the past three hours, its eye wall had touched the northeastern corner of Taiwan, especially on the north coast of Keelung. In these areas, the Meteorological Administration observed strong gusts of magnitude 17 in San Diaojiao, New Taipei City, and Datun Mountain in Taipei City. Strong gusts of magnitude 14 were also observed at the Keelung Weather Station, indicating that the typhoon was quite strong as it approached.

Lin Bingyu said that in the past three hours, the rainfall in the Peach, Bamboo, Miao and Yilan mountainous areas has reached about 40 mm to 70 mm. In addition, due to the influence of the peripheral circulation, heavy rain has also occurred in the central and southern mountainous areas and even the plains of Tainan.

Lin Bingyu said that Qiangpi continued to move westward in the past three hours. It was still slowly moving east of Taiwan until the early morning of today (24th). After early morning, it began to gradually move northward and slowly moved away.

Lin Bingyu said that during this period, the storm circle continued to cover Taiwan, Penghu, and Matsu, and the radius of the Category 10 storm wind also enveloped northern Taiwan, Yilan, and even the northern Hualien area. The current wind and rain in northern Taiwan are still quite obvious.

Lin Bingyu said that until Saturday morning, the overall strong winds will still be level 9 to level 10, especially along the coast, there may still be strong winds of level 12. Strong gusts of level 12 or above will continue to be maintained in areas such as Yilan and the northeast corner, and it is necessary to continue to observe how close the typhoon center is to Yilan and the northeast corner. If the distance is closer, strong gusts of level 14 or above are not ruled out.

Lin Bingyu said that the overall wind strength will weaken slightly after noon tomorrow, but there are still strong gusts of magnitude 9 to 10 in some areas and open coastal areas. As for the rainfall, it will have to wait until after tomorrow afternoon to significantly ease the rainfall, and the area will be reduced to the area north of Miaoli. There are still heavy rainfalls in these areas, but the rainfall has begun to slow down, including areas south of Taichung.