A continental cold air mass has sent temperatures in Taiwan plummeting to below 10 degrees Celsius, leading the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) to issue cold weather advisories for 10 cities and counties on Wednesday.
Temperatures in low-lying areas around the island hit lows on Wednesday of 9.2 degrees in Miaoli County at 7 a.m. and 9.3 degrees in Taoyuan at 5:22 a.m., according to CWB data.
The CWB forecast that the air mass will continue into Friday, and issued a “very cold” orange advisory, meaning temperatures will remain at or below 10 degrees, for Keelung, New Taipei and Taoyuan cities and Hsinchu County through Thursday morning.
It also issued a “cold” yellow advisory, meaning temperature lows could fall below 10 degrees, for Miaoli, Nantou, Yunlin and Chiayi counties, Chiayi City, and the offshore Kinmen County.
Temperatures in the northern and eastern parts of Taiwan will stay low throughout the day with the possibility of rainfall, while the central and southern parts of Taiwan will experience comfortable temperatures, the bureau said.
Other lows seen in different parts of Taiwan on Wednesday were 9.5 degrees in Hsinchu County at 4:13 a.m., 9.8 degrees in New Taipei (Shimen District) at 4:50 a.m., and 11.0 degrees in Taipei (Wenshan District) at 4:47 a.m.
According to Wu Der-rong (???), a meteorologist and adjunct associate professor of atmospheric sciences at National Central University, the 11.0 degree temperature recorded in Taipei was the lowest for this winter season so far.
He agreed with the CWB’s temperature predictions, and credited the European weather model for forecasting that temperatures will remain low until Friday.
He also said that due to the effects of radiative cooling, morning and evening temperatures will stay relatively low with early morning temperatures north of Tainan expected to remain between 8 to 10 degrees.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel