Typhoon Meari gaining strenght

Meari could unleash flooding rain and damaging winds as it takes aim at the Far East late in the week.

Meari was named by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) Wednesday, as Tropical Depression 07W gained storm status over the warm seas east of the northern Philippines. Skirting northern Luzon Island, Philippines, on Thursday, Meari should keep away from land until at least Friday, when a landfall will be possible in Taiwan.

The track over open water will favor intensification, so the odds of Meari becoming a typhoon ahead of its landfall are good.

Tropical cyclone forecasters based in South Korea and Japan have plotted a more easterly path for Meari; one which would only clip Taiwan and the China mainland.

The more easterly track could spare Taiwan and eastern China the worst of Meari's wind and rain. On the other hand, it could set up the Korean Peninsula and even southwestern-most Japan for a bout of flooding rain and high wind on Sunday and Monday. (AccuWeather)