Clocking wind speeds of 300 km/h, super typhoon Meranti, now the Earth's strongest storm of the year, is forecast to graze Taiwan on Wednesday before barrelling into China.

The monster storm is the strongest recorded since 2013, when super typhoon Haiyan killed more than 6000 people in the Philippines.

Meranti prompted Taiwan officials to evacuate nearly 1800 tourists from offshore islands and close some schools and offices.

The storm produced gusts of 362 km/h Tuesday morning, along with waves around 14.5 metres, the Joint Typhoon Warning Centre said.

Though predicted to weaken as it approaches land, Meranti is still expected to bring flooding rain, damaging winds and dangerous storm surge to Taiwan, according to AccuWeather.

In Taiwan, Meranti's peak impacts will be Wednesday local time.

There were already reports of flooding and strong winds hitting Taiwan as the storm approached the southern tip.

Taiwan's Central Weather Bureau issued a typhoon warning for central and southern parts of the country, including Tainan City and Kaohsiung City.

Some Taiwan residents, especially those in remote areas, are not well prepared to withstand the typhoon's strong gales, the China Post newspaper reported. Xianglan Village in Taitung, battered badly by Typhoon Nepartak in July, has not yet been fully reconstructed, the paper said.

Nepartak made landfall on the southeastern shore of Taiwan as a Category 4 super typhoon with top sustained winds of 241 km/h in July, killing three people.

Sustained winds of 160 km/h to 190 kmh/ are likely when Meranti nears the shore on Wednesday, resulting in downed trees and power outages, AccuWeather warned. Ferry service has already been suspended in some areas.

#Meranti has had 185+ mph winds for past 24 hrs - tied with Haiyan for longest 185+ mph period in NW Pac since 1970. pic.twitter.com/jKnrxtfbkH Philip Klotzbach (@philklotzbach) September 13, 2016

After impacting Taiwan, the storm will move toward mainland China by Thursday, where the potential remains for Meranti to make landfall with winds equivalent to that of a Category 3 hurricane, Douty said.

As of Wednesday, the typhoon recorded 300 km/h winds for 18 straight hours, a feat only matched by two other typhoons since 1970, according to meteorologist Phil Klotzbach of Colorado State University.

A typhoon become as "super typhoon" when sustained wind speeds reach 241 km/h.

USA Today