China issues blue alert for Typhoon Talim

BEIJING - China's National Meteorological Center (NMC) Tuesday issued a blue alert for Typhoon Talim, which could intensify to a super typhoon and is likely to hit China's southeastern coast Thursday or Friday.

At 5 a.m. Tuesday, the eye of Talim, this year's 18th typhoon in the region, was above the northwestern Pacific Ocean, 1040 km southeast of Taiwan's Yilan county, packing winds up to 33 meters per second.

The NMC forecast that Talim would move northwest at a speed of 25 to 30 km per hour toward the coast of Zhejiang and Fujian provinces.

It warned that Talim would grow stronger and could escalate to a super typhoon with winds up to 60 meters per second, expecting it to land in coastal areas of Zhejiang and northern Fujian between Thursday night and Friday morning.

It is possible that Talim would move north in waters near Zhejiang Friday and then turn northeast.

From Tuesday to Wednesday, Talim will bring gales to the southern East China Sea, waters in the Taiwan Strait and east of Taiwan, as well as parts of the South China Sea.

The NMC also warned of a tropical depression above waters 205 km east of Manila in the Phillipines early Tuesday, moving northwest at a speed of 15 km per hour.

The tropical depression is likely to strengthen into this year's 19th typhoon in the next 12 hours and enter eastern waters of the South China Sea Wednesday morning.

China has a four-tier color-coded system for severe weather, with red being the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue.