It is Sunday evening, 6pm, September 21, 2008, here in Taipei City, Taiwan.  It has been a beautiful day here today but the weather is changing rapidly.

Local media is reporting that as early as this evening we will start to be affected by TROPICAL STORM HAGUPIT, which is now being referred to by Philippine Media as TYPHOON NINA.

TYPHOON NINA has intensified slowly over the last twelve hours and is now threatening the LUZON island group of the Philippines.  It is currently packing winds of 110 Kilometers per hour and is traveling NW at 22 Kilometers per hour.

TYPHOON NINA is expected to more than DOUBLE in strength before it gets nearer to Taiwan, with one projection of maximum sustained winds of 185 to 230 kilometers per hour by Tuesday Morning – which would make it AS POWERFUL if not MORE POWERFUL a typhoon than TYPHOON SINLAKU, which on this island recently left 11 dead with 11 still unaccounted for . 

Every typhoon is unpredictable but there are five tracts that TYPHOON NINA is expected to take: The first three bring it between The Phillipines and Taiwan directly towards Hong Kong; the Fourth takes it across Southern Taiwan, across Kaohsiung City; while the Fifth projection brings it up the entire length of Taiwan, from the bottom of the island at Kenting up to the capital city in the North, Taipei. 

I’ll continue to keep you up to date on the latest developments of TYPHOON NINA.

This is Neal Moore (i)reporting from Taipei, Taiwan for CNN.