Taipei, Aug. 4 (CNA) A tropical depression that has turned into a tropical storm over the West Pacific early Tuesday morning is expected to approach Taiwan, but it is not clear if it will deliver the heavy rainfall Taiwan desperately needs. "It remains to be seen whether and how the tropical storm, dubbed Morakot, will directly affect Taiwan, " a Central Weather Bureau (CWB) meteorologist said.
According to the CWB, Morakot was located 1,500-plus kilometers east of Taiwan's southernmost tip of Eluanbi, moving in a northwesterly direction toward Taiwan at a speed of 9 kilometers per hour.
Morakot, the eighth storm system reported in the West Pacific region this year, is expected to maintain its course and speed until noon Tuesday and then shift to a west-northwest direction toward Taiwan in the following 24 hours, the CWB said.
Based on current projections, the tropical storm will begin affecting Taiwan Aug. 7 or 8.
Taiwan has received far less rainfall than normal so far this year, and water authorities have warned of possible rationing measures if drought conditions persist.
Another tropical storm, Goni, which formed Monday and was the West Pacific's seventh storm of the year, has swept through the South China Sea toward Hong Kong, CWB meteorologists said.
Its outer rim has brought sporadic showers to central, southern and eastern Taiwan, but not enough to ease the country's water shortage.
(By Deborah Kuo)
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