TAIPEI (TVBS News) — The Central Weather Administration (CWA, 中央氣象署), Taiwan's national meteorological agency, announced on Monday (July 21) that Typhoon Wipha intensified to a moderate typhoon on July 20. Despite moving away from Taiwan's immediate vicinity, officials warned residents to prepare for unstable weather patterns and elevated moisture levels across the island throughout Monday.
Meteorologists reported that Typhoon Wipha's expansive outer cloud bands, combined with a nearby low-pressure system, threatened to trigger brief but intense downpours across eastern Taiwan's Hualien and Taitung regions, southern mountainous territories, and the Hengchun Peninsula on Sunday (July 20). Government authorities urged residents to remain vigilant while venturing outdoors as conditions could deteriorate rapidly.
Officials issued a comprehensive heavy rain alert on Sunday (July 20), warning of potentially dangerous localized downpours or torrential rainfall affecting central Taiwan's Taichung and Nantou regions, eastern Taitung, and the southern Hengchun Peninsula. The alert extended to possible heavy precipitation from northern Taoyuan through central Yunlin, eastern Hualien, offshore Green Island and Orchid Island, and the elevated terrain of southern Chiayi and Pingtung counties.
Weather experts predicted Taiwan would remain under the influence of the persistent low-pressure system throughout the coming week. Their forecast identified a developing tropical system east of the Philippines that could potentially track toward Taiwan in the days ahead. Meteorologists noted this system might strengthen into a tropical depression between Monday (July 21) and Thursday (July 24), prompting authorities to closely monitor its development pattern and projected trajectory.
