The latest typhoon bulletin on the afternoon of June 21st from the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said that a new low pressure has formed in the east of the Philippines.
Depression 06c is being monitored in the Philippine Typhoon Surveillance Area (TCID). This system is currently unlikely to strengthen into a tropical depression in the next 24 hours. Depression 06c is currently located about 3,030km east southeast of Luzon Island.
The new low pressure is formed in the context of Typhoon Mekkhala (Philippines name Francisco), which has become a strong typhoon and is being monitored in the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR).
The center of Typhoon Mekkhala is currently located about 1,090km east of Central Luzon. The typhoon has maximum sustained winds of about 120 km/h, gusts up to 150 km/h and is moving west-northwest at a speed of about 25 km/h.
According to CNA news agency, the Taiwan (China) Weather Administration (CWA), Typhoon Mekkhala is forecast to strengthen to its maximum intensity on June 22 and may move close enough to Taiwan (China) in the second half of next week for the meteorological agency to issue a sea warning.
Weather forecaster Cheng Chieh-jen of CWA said that under the impact of the Pacific subtropical high pressure, Mekkhala will continue to move west-northwest until the end of June 23 before gradually turning north, heading towards the sea east of Taiwan (China) or the southern area of Japan's Ryukyu Islands.
The timing as well as the direction of the storm's turn is still uncertain. However, current forecasts show that the storm will be closest to Taiwan (China) on June 25-26.
According to him, atmospheric conditions in the next few days will continue to be favorable for the storm to strengthen and it is likely that Mekkhala will reach typhoon intensity on June 22. However, after changing direction to the north, the forecast environment is less favorable, causing the storm intensity to gradually weaken.
In the typhoon bulletin on June 21, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said that Typhoon Mekkhala has moved westward into the sea area east of the Philippines. This is the 7th typhoon to form in the northwest Pacific region this year. JMA forecasts Mekkhala will continue to approach the Philippines until mid-week before turning north and moving to the southern Okinawa prefecture of Japan.
