Taiwan issues warnings for mid-strength typhoon

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan's weather bureau issued land and sea warnings on Thursday for a mid-strength typhoon, the most severe this year so far, with heavy rain and wind gusts up to 180 kph (112 mph) expected overnight before the storm heads to China.

Schools and offices will be cloed in Taipei and three counties on Friday, officials said, as heavy rains began to soak the capital.

Taipei's stock and forex markets will also be shut.

Typhoon Morakot, centred 430 km (267 miles) southeast of Taiwan at 1015 GMT, was expected to reach northern Taiwan by early Friday with winds up to 140 kph (87 mph), the Central Weather Bureau said on its website (www.cwb.gov.tw).

Morakot will grow to a category 4 typhoon, on a 1-5 scale, early on Friday, passing directly over Taipei before reaching southeast China by Saturday at a weaker category 2, said forecasting website Tropical Storm Risk. (www.tropicalstormrisk.com).

Typhoons regularly hit China, Taiwan, the Philippines and Japan in the second half of the year, gathering strength from the warm waters of the Pacific Ocean or South China Sea before weakening over land.