People in Taipei, New Taipei City and Keelung can expect about 40 hours of temperatures below 10°C, starting this afternoon, due to the arrival of a cold front, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday.
Temperatures in northern and central Taiwan could dip below 10°C by this afternoon, as the cold front is expected to move quickly toward the nation, it said.
“Residents in the greater Taipei area would feel temperature differences more acutely than those in other parts of the nation, as they could experience temperatures below 10°C for about 40 straight hours,” Weather Forecast Center Director Lu Kuo-chen (呂國臣) said.
Photo: Hsiao Yu-hsin, Taipei Times
The most powerful cold front that Taiwan has experienced occurred in 2016, which lasted 61 hours for residents in the greater Taipei area, Lu said.
Although it does not appear today’s cold front would equal or exceed the one four years ago, the apparent temperatures — those perceived and felt by people — might be comparable, Lu said.
While the cold front is expected to affect the north of the country longer than other areas, residents in central and southern Taiwan could experience temperatures lower than those in the north because of radiative cooling effects, he said.
Lows in northeastern Taiwan and north of central Taiwan would be about 7°C to 8°C between tomorrow and Friday, while other parts would see lows of about 10°C, while snow could fall on mountains between 1,000m and 2,000m from tomorrow night to Friday morning, the bureau said.
However, this year is to go down in the nation’s climatic history as the warmest ever, with the accumulated rainfall in the mountains in central Taiwan accounting for just 50 to 70 percent of the climate average, the bureau’s data showed.
April and October were the only months that had average temperatures close to the normal range, but average temperatures in the other months exceeded the climate average and made it to the top 10.
As of Sunday, the nation’s average temperature this year was 24.62°C, higher than last year’s 24.55°C and a new record, the bureau said.
The highest temperature in the nation, 40.2°C, was measured on July 25 at the Dawu (大武) Observation Station in Taitung County, it said, adding that it tied the previous record.
The rainfall in June, July and September was significantly less than the climate average, the bureau said, adding that only accumulated rainfall in the northeast region and southern coastal area was between normal and slightly more than the climate average.
The La Nina effect is expected to gradually weaken after next spring, Lu said.
Records showed that the average temperatures from January to March after a La Nina Year would be lower than normal and rainfall in the west coast would be below the normal range, he said.
Average temperatures in the next three months are likely to be close to the normal range, but the rainfall could be between low and normal, he said.
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