Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau announced today (August 23) that Typhoon Swordfish was formed at 9:10 a.m. and is predicted to move towards Vietnam, having no direct impact on Taiwan.
According to the Central Weather Bureau, as of 8 a.m. today, the center of the typhoon was located at 17.1 degrees north latitude, 116.0 degrees east longitude, moving northwest at a speed of 19 kilometers per hour. The central pressure was 998 hPa, with maximum sustained winds near the center at 18 meters per second, and maximum gusts of 25 meters per second. The radius of strong winds of Beaufort level 7 extends up to 80 kilometers from the center (100 kilometers to the northwest, 60 kilometers to the northeast, 100 kilometers to the southwest, and 60 kilometers to the southeast).
Associate Professor Wu Derong from the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at National Central University in Taiwan stated in the column “Sky Machine Classroom” of the Meteorological Applications Promotion Foundation that according to the latest simulation of the European model (ECMWF), the weather in various regions on the 23rd and 24th will be clear and extremely hot, with temperatures exceeding 38 degrees Celsius nationwide. People are advised to use sun protection and guard against heatstroke. In the mountainous areas, there may be localized showers or thunderstorms in the afternoon, with occasional brief rainfall in Taitung and Pingtung.
Wu Derong further mentioned that the latest European model simulation indicates that from the 25th to the 29th, the weather will be mostly clear to partly cloudy across the country, with scorching temperatures requiring sun protection and precautions against heatstroke. Moisture is increasing in the southern region, with a chance of brief, localized rainfall in Hualien and Pingtung. The atmosphere will be unstable, with the possibility of localized showers or thunderstorms in the mountainous areas in the afternoon and a slight chance of extending to the southern plains.
It was noted by Wu that at 2 a.m. on the 23rd, the “Track Potential Prediction Chart” from the Weather Bureau indicated a “tropical low-pressure system” west of the Luzon Island on the sea, expected to develop into Typhoon Swordfish by this morning and continue to strengthen. It is forecasted to pass south of Hainan Island and head towards Vietnam. The latest simulations from the European and American ensemble models (GEFS) show that the average path of the ensembles is similar to the Weather Bureau’s prediction, posing no threat to Taiwan.