Taiwan is unlikely to issue a land warning for Typhoon Talim as the intensifying storm is expected to move further north, affecting mainly northern areas with heavy rain on Wednesday and Thursday, forecasters have said.
As of 11:30am on Wednesday, the storm was 470 kilometers east of Taiwan and was moving northwest at a speed of 13 kilometers per hour, the Central News Agency reported, citing Central Weather Bureau data.
Talim was packing sustained winds of 137 kilometers per hour and gusts of up to 173 kph. It had a radius of about 200 km.
Bureau forecaster Chen Yi-hsiu warned that areas north of Miaoli, especially Taipei, New Taipei and Keelung, should be prepared for heavy precipitation from Wednesday evening to Thursday morning, even though a land warning for the typhoon is unlikely.
According to the Liberty Times, as of Wednesday morning, a total of 190 domestic and international flights had been cancelled, while seven flights had been delayed at the island’s airports. Travelers were advised to contact relevant airlines to check the latest flight information.
Given its current course, Talim is expected to leave Taiwan waters after midnight on Thursday at the earliest.