The mercury is expected to drop in the northern parts of the country later this week as another cold air mass is forecast to arrive on Thursday, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday.
The bureau said daytime temperatures began rising yesterday after the cold air mass that lingered over the nation at the weekend weakened. However, chances of showers also rose nationwide as clouds in the south moved north.
Residents in the northern coast and mountainous areas in central and southern Taiwan could experience heavy rain, it said.
Photo: CNA
The bureau said rainy weather in northern and eastern regions would continue until the weekend because of the cold air mass, with nighttime temperatures dropping as low as 11°C.
Meanwhile, people in Taiwan will have a chance to see another total lunar eclipse on Saturday, the bureau said.
The first total lunar eclipse this year was on June 16.
Cheng Chen-fong (鄭振豐), a specialist at the bureau’s Astronomical Observatory, said this time was different because people would actually witness the complete process of the total lunar eclipse, which would last six hours. The last time such a phenomenon was observed in Taiwan was on July 16, 2000, he said, adding that it would not occur again until Jan. 31, 2018.
The bureau said the moon would start moving into the earth’s penumbra at 7:31pm.
First contact, which occurs when the earth’s penumbra makes contact with the outer limb of the moon, would result in a missing corner on the right side of the moon. The phenomenon would occur at 8:45pm.
Cheng said the corner would slowly expand until the moon completely enters the earth’s umbra, adding that a total lunar eclipse would be visible by around 10:06pm.
The total eclipse will last until 10:58pm, when the moon will start leaving the earth’s umbra and be completely out of it by 1:31am. The bureau also said the eclipse would be visible to the naked eye, although observers were advised to use binoculars to get a better view.
As rainy weather is forecast for northern and eastern regions as well as mountainous areas in central and southern Taiwan this weekend, residents in the plains areas of central and southern Taiwan have a better chance of witnessing the lunar eclipse.
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
Taiwan is planning to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based X-ray imaging to customs clearance points over the next four years to curb the smuggling of contraband, a Customs Administration official said. The official on condition of anonymity said the plan would cover meat products, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, large bundles of banknotes and certain agricultural produce. Taiwan began using AI image recognition systems in July 2021. This year, generative AI — a subset of AI which uses generative models to produce data — would be used to train AI models to produce realistic X-ray images of contraband, the official
RSS