Double trouble: Tropical Storm Kajiki forms, Lingling to come closest to Taiwan Sept. 4, 5

雙重麻煩：熱帶風暴「劍魚」形成 「玲玲」9/4, 5最接近台

Tropical Storm Kajiki takes shape, Tropical Storm Lingling to bring heavy rains to Taiwan on Sept. 4, 5


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- Tropical Storm Kajiki officially formed this morning (Sept. 3), while Tropical Storm Lingling is projected to come closest to Taiwan on Wednesday and Thursday (Sept. 4 and 5), likely bringing heavy rain.

At 4 a.m. this morning, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) announced that a tropical depression in the Gulf of Tonkin has officially developed into Tropical Storm Kajiki (劍魚, marlin), the 14th tropical storm of the year. It is currently predicted to turn northeast toward and churn up the coast of southern China, but is not currently expected to affect Taiwan directly.

Tropical Storm Lingling

As of 2 a.m. this morning, the center of Tropical Storm Lingling was located at 18.9 degrees north latitude and 124.0 degrees east longitude, moving northwest at a speed of 18 kilometers per hour (kph). The storm is packing maximum sustained winds of 82.8 kph with gusts of up to 108 kph.

Tropical Storm Kajiki

As of 2 a.m. this morning, the center of Tropical Storm Kajiki was located at 16.5 degrees north latitude and 107.4 degrees east longitude, moving southeast at a speed of 3 kph. The storm is packing maximum sustained winds of 64.8 kph with gusts of up to 90 kph.

CWB forecaster Cheng Chuan-fang (程川芳) today said that eastern and southern Taiwan will start to feel the impact of Lingling's periphery in the form of scattered showers. By Wednesday and Thursday, the tropical storm is likely to bring heavy rains to Taiwan.

Cheng said that Lingling will shift further north on Friday (Sept. 6), but it will still churn up southwest winds and central and southern Taiwan could continue to experience brief rains until Sunday (Sept. 8). As for Tropical Storm Kajiki, Cheng said that there is still a wide range of variability in its future path and more observation is needed to determine if it will have any impact on Taiwan.

As for the weather today, Cheng told ETtoday that it will be sunny and hot across the country. Cheng said that high temperatures in western Taiwan will range between 32 and 35 degrees Celsius, while some inland areas may climb to 36 degrees.

Meanwhile, eastern Taiwan and the Hengchun Peninsula will likely see localized, brief showers, with high temperatures reaching between 32 and 33 degrees, said Cheng. In the afternoon, central and southern Taiwan and mountainous areas of northern Taiwan could see brief afternoon thunderstorms, according to Cheng.