Super Typhoon Krathon is barreling toward Taiwan, with satellite images showing the massive storm system bearing down on the island.
Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration (CWA) predicts that Krathon, currently classified as a Category 4 storm, will make landfall on the southern part of Taiwan by Wednesday.
In response, heavy rain advisories are in place for much of the north, northeast and southwest regions. For the southern and eastern coasts, where the typhoon is expected to have the greatest impact, authorities have issued warnings for torrential and “extremely torrential” rain​.
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
To minimize risk, the Taiwanese Cabinet said Tuesday that all schools and government offices across the island would be closed on Wednesday. Many private businesses have decided to suspend operations, taking a “typhoon day” as a precaution.
An animated graphic shared Monday on X (formerly Twitter) by the Zoom Earth platform illustrates the storm’s path. Krathon can be seen heading northwest Monday morning before veering north and then northeast later that day.
As of 8 p.m. local time, Krathon was positioned 180 kilometers (112 miles) south-southwest of the southern port city of Kaohsiung, according to the CWA.
The typhoon had a radius of 137 miles and was packing maximum sustained winds of up to 123 miles per hour, with gusts as powerful as 152 miles per hour.
The storm was moving at a sluggish pace of just 3.7 miles per hour, and CWA meteorologist Wu Wan-hua said the storm had “hardly moved.” She also warned residents of low-lying areas in the south to beware of storm surge.
“The path of Krathon is relatively rare, entering from the south and exiting from the east. Therefore, we must be particularly vigilant,” President Lai Ching-te said during a government press conference
Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said on X that it had mobilized troops and vehicles and that they are on standby.
The outer edges of the storm have already reached Kaohsiung as well as the southern counties of Pingtung and Taitung.
On its way to Taiwan, Krathon passed northern areas of the Philippines, where it is known as Typhoon Julian. The storm affected over 77,000 people, forcing 1,793 individuals to vacate their homes and seek shelter in evacuation centers​ or other locations, according to government reports.
Typhoon season in Southeast Asia typically runs from May to October, peaking in late summer. Typhoons are frequent during this period because of warm ocean waters fueling storm development. Krathon is the 18th typhoon so far this year.
