The latest storm information from Taiwan's weather agency CWA said that the maximum wind radius of super typhoon Kong-rey - the distance from the center of the storm to the strongest wind band of the storm - has expanded to 320 km.
The last time a storm of comparable strength, with an RMW greater than 300 km, made landfall in Taiwan was Typhoon Herb in 1996, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao said. Typhoon Herb made landfall in Yilan County, Taiwan, with an RMW of 350 km. At that time, the weather station in Alishan recorded 1,090 mm of rainfall in one day (July 31, 1996) when Typhoon Herb hit the island.
Last July, Typhoon Doksuri had an RMW of more than 300 km, but this large storm did not make landfall directly in Taiwan (China) but moved south of the island and then made landfall in Fujian, China.
The storm bulletin at 5 p.m. on October 30 from the Philippine weather agency PAGASA said that the eye of Super Typhoon Kong-rey (local name Leon) was 215 kilometers east-southeast of Basco, Batanes, Philippines. The storm is moving northwest at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour, with maximum sustained winds of 185 kilometers per hour near the eye of the storm and gusts of up to 230 kilometers per hour.
PAGASA forecasters said that Super Typhoon Kong-rey is likely to make landfall on the east coast of Taiwan (China) on the afternoon of October 31. The storm is expected to continue moving northwest over the Philippine Sea before making landfall. After Taiwan (China), Kong-rey is expected to head out to the East China Sea. However, forecasters do not rule out the possibility of a second landfall in mainland China during this period.
Super Typhoon Kong-rey will approach Batanes closest from the night of October 30 to the morning of October 31 and the possibility of making landfall in Batanes is not ruled out. "Super Typhoon Kong-rey will be at or near peak intensity during its closest approach to Batanes. The landfall of Kong-rey in Taiwan (China) will result in a continued weakening trend for the remainder of the forecast period," PAGASA's storm forecast bulletin stated.
At 10:00 a.m. on October 30, Typhoon Kong-rey suddenly strengthened into a super typhoon. This is a very unexpected development related to the storm near the Philippines because previously, PAGASA forecasters said that Typhoon Kong-rey was likely to reach super typhoon or near super typhoon level during the time the storm moved closest to Batanes, which was October 31.
Kong-rey is the name of a mountain in Cambodia. The name of this storm is also the name of a girl in Khmer legend.
