Typhoon Mitag to be felt from Monday night: forecasters

Shanghai's Meteorological Bureau issued a blue alert for Typhoon Mitag at 6:30pm on Monday, expecting gales across most of the city on Tuesday afternoon and evening. 

Mitag is likely to influence the city, starting Monday evening with increasing winds, and pass by Taiwan during the night, forecasters said.

According to the National Meteorological Center, its center was at a latitude of 24.2 degrees north and longitude of 122.8 degrees east, about 160 kilometers southeast of Taipei City by 7pm Monday.

Packing maximum winds of 137 kilometers per hour, it continues to move in a north-westerly direction at a speed of 25 km/h, and it's getting stronger.

The Shanghai Meteorological Bureau expected that Mitag will make land or pass northern Taiwan on Monday night and then turn northward. It will make landfall or pass by Zhejiang's Yuhuan to Zhoushan areas Tuesday evening.

By dawn on Wednesday it will weaken to a severe tropical storm and pass areas at the same latitude as Shanghai.

Compared with previous typhoons Lingling, Tapha and Danas, the location of Mitag will be much closer to Shanghai.

Between Tuesday and Wednesday, there will be heavy rains of 50 to 80 millimeters in Shanghai, and some areas will see torrential rains of 100 to 150 millimeters. Most of the downpours will drench the city from Tuesday afternoon to evening, with hourly precipitation of 20 to 40 millimeters.

Residents are warned to keep themselves away from bodies of water like beaches or rivers to prevent the impact brought by the combination of gale, storm and tide.

Starting Wednesday, it will be mostly dry and cloudy with milder temperatures, despite some coolness brought by a cold front at the weekend.

On Tuesday the high will fall a bit to 26 degrees Celsius, but it will soon bounce back to between 28 and 30 degrees between Wednesday and Friday. It will drop again on Saturday to 25 degrees. The low will remain in the low twenties.