Typhoon Tapah heading to Korea
Fishing boats anchored at a port in Busan Friday as Typhoon Tapah, this year’s 17th, heads northward toward the peninsula. It is expected to hit southern Korea over the weekend. [YONHAP]
Typhoon Tapah, this year’s 17th, took shape 470 kilometers (292 miles) south of Japan’s Okinawa in the western Pacific Ocean the previous day and is currently tracking northward, the Korea Meteorological Administration said.
As of 9 a.m., the typhoon’s central pressure was 990 hectopascals and the maximum wind speed near its center was 86 kilometers per hour (53 miles per hour), with a wind radius of 280 kilometers, the agency said. The figures were all up from the previous day, it added.
“Typhoon Tapah was moving eastward on seas 380 kilometers south-southwest of Okinawa at a speed of 2 kilometers per hour,” the agency said, adding the typhoon gained force overnight as it stayed on high temperature seas due to its slowdown.
The typhoon is forecast to reach seas some 220 kilometers south of the country’s southernmost island of Jeju at 9:00 a.m., Sunday, enter seas some 50 kilometers south-southeast of Busan at 9:00 p.m. after passing through seas off Jeju’s eastern coast and advance to waters 140 kilometers northeast of the easternmost Dokdo Islets at 9:00 a.m., Monday, the agency said.
In particular, the typhoon is feared to develop into a medium-level one when it nears Busan, with its maximum wind speed expected to reach 115 kilometers per hour, according to the agency.
The typhoon is also likely to bring downpours of up to 150-400 millimeters (5.9-15.7 inches) to Jeju and 100-300 millimeters to the South Jeolla and Gyeongsang provinces and Dokdo between Saturday and Monday.
Yonhap
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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