The latest typhoon information from Taiwan's CWA said that super typhoon Kong-rey with the RMW maximum wind radius - the distance from the center of the typhoon to the strongest wind zone of the typhoon - has expanded to 320 km.
The last time a typhoon of similar strength, with an RMW greater than 300 km, made landfall in Taiwan (China) was Typhoon Herb in 1996, CWA typhoon forecaster Chang Chun-yao said. Typhoon Herb made landfall in Yilan County, Taiwan (China) 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 made landfall on the island.
Last July, Typhoon Doksuri had an RMW of more than 300 km, but the major storm did not make landfall directly in Taiwan (China) but moved south of the island and then landed in Fujian, China.
The storm information at 5:00 p.m. on October 30 from the Philippine weather agency PAGASA said that the center of super typhoon Kong-rey (local name is Leon) is 215 km east-southeast of Basco, Batanes, Philippines. The storm is moving northwest at a speed of 20 km/h, with maximum sustained winds of 185 km/h near the center and gusts of up to 230 km/h.
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 towards 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 cannot be ruled out. "super typhoon Kong-rey will be at or near peak intensity during its closest approach to Batanes. Kong-rey making landfall in Taiwan (China) will lead to a continued weakening trend for the remainder of the forecast period" - PAGASA's typhoon forecast bulletin stated.
At 10 a.m. on October 30, Kong-rey suddenly strengthened into a super typhoon. This is a very surprising development related to the storm near the Philippines because PAGASA forecasters previously said that Kong-rey is likely to reach super typhoon or near super typhoon level during the time the storm moves closest to Batanes, on 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.
