Typhoon Yutu buries 31 in Philippine landslide, now winding its way toward Taiwan

玉兔颱風襲擊菲律賓造成土石流31死，現已向台灣方向蜿蜒接近

Typhoon Yutu buries dozens in Philippine landslide, periphery to combine with northeastern monsoon to bring heavy rain to Taiwan


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- Typhoon Yutu, which has been downgraded to a tropical storm, but is expected to strengthen into a typhoon again, has killed six people in the Philippines and is now spiraling on a path toward Taiwan, where it is likely to bring heavy rains as early as this evening.

Landslides unleashed by Yutu as it hammered the Philippines have left six dead and many more missing, including 31 believed to be trapped in a public works building hit by a wall of mud in the Cordillera mountain area of Natonin in upper Luzon, reported ABS CBN News. Yutu took a path just south of Typhoon Mangkhut, pouring more rain on already heavily saturated hillsides, causing multiple landslides.

As of 2 a.m. this morning, Tropical Storm Yutu had a radius of 220 kilometers and was located 600 kilometers south-southwest of Taiwan's southernmost tip of Eluanbi, moving northwest at 14 kilometers per hour (kph), packing maximum sustained winds of 118 kph and gusts of 154 kph, according to the Central Weather Bureau (CWB).

It is expected to next head toward Dongsha Island in the South China Sea, before reorganizing and heading north toward the Taiwan Strait, bringing heavy rain to northern and eastern Taiwan. The CWB said that the "concomitant effect" of Yutu's periphery and a northeastern monsoon will bring heavy to torrential rain to northern and eastern parts of Taiwan from today (Oct. 31) until Friday (Nov. 2).

Rain in the mountainous areas of southern Taiwan is also likely, while central Taiwan should be relatively dry. Rain is also expected in Taiwan's plains on Friday and Saturday.

As for temperatures, the low across the country will be 20 degrees Celsius, while northern and and eastern Taiwan will see highs of 22 and 23 degrees, respectively, and central and southern Taiwan will hit a high of 28 degrees. This pattern will continue for the rest of the week until Saturday, when northern Taiwan will warm up to see highs ranging between 24 to 28 degrees.

The CWB has issued a heavy rain advisory for New Taipei City, Keelung City, and Taitung County, while it has issued a extremely heavy rain advisory for Yilan County. It has also issued a strong wind advisory for all of Taiwan.

On its Facebook page, WeatherRisk said that Yutu will have a noticeable impact on Taiwan starting today, as it begins its northward turn, with rain being likely in Keelung, Yilan, Hualien, and Taitung, and all should be cautious regarding sudden downpours in those areas.

WeatherRisk also said there will be occasional showers in western Taiwan and warned of very strong coastal winds. The weather forecast company said that, although Yutu will combine with a northeastern monsoon to generate significant winds and rainfall, strong wind sheer should weaken Yutu, leading to its dissipation in the Taiwan Strait by Friday, with rainfall diminishing by the weekend.


CWB map of Typhoon Yutu's projected path.


Models of six different weather agencies. (Map from typhoon2000)


JTWC map of Yutu's predicted path.


Japan Meteorological Agency map of Yutu's predicted path over next 5 days.


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Tropical Storm Risk map showing probability of storm winds over next 72 hours.

Animated Windy.com map showing Yutu's projected path over coming week.




NOAA satellite image of Yutu.


NOAA satellite image of Yutu.


NOAA satellite image of Western Pacific.


NOAA animated GIF of Western Pacific.