A strong continental cold air mass that has enveloped Taiwan is expected to sprinkle snow on the mountains of northern and northeastern Taiwan at elevations of over 2,000m today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said.
The cold front, coupled with moisture in the air, would not only bring snow to northern and northeastern mountains, but is also expected to cause frost on peaks of over 3,000m in the northern half of Taiwan, the CWA said.
Photo: Taipei Times
The CWA has issued an "orange" cold surge advisory, warning of "very cold" weather conditions in New Taipei City and Taoyuan, and Hsinchu and Miaoli counties in the north, and Yilan County in the northeast.
Keelung, Taipei and Hsinchu are under a "yellow" cold surge advisory.
Early this morning, the lowest temperatures recorded in non-mountainous areas in Taiwan were 9.4°C in Wugu District (五股) in New Taipei City and 9.8°C in the city's Shiding District (石碇).
In the north and northeast, daytime highs today were expected to hover around 12°C to 14°C, while nighttime temperatures were forecast to drop to 11°C to 12°C, the CWA said.
The rest of the country would see highs of 16°C to 21°C and lows of 13°C to 15°C, it said.
The CWA has also forecast brief showers today in eastern and southern Taiwan, as well as in mountainous areas in the west.
The effects of the current cold air mass are to persist into Thursday, with the mercury likely to drop further due to a radiative cooling effect, which refers to the cooling of the surface under clear skies, light winds and dry conditions, independent meteorologist Wu Der-rong (吳德榮) said.
Starting on Friday, temperatures are to rise again gradually, and by Monday next week, daytime highs are likely to hit 30°C, he said.
Meanwhile, the air quality across most of Taiwan was fair to good today, the Ministry of Environment said.
However, an "orange" alert was issued for some areas of Yunlin, Chiayi and Pingtung counties and Tainan and Kaohsiung in the south, indicating unhealthy air quality for sensitive groups such as the elderly, children and people with cardiac or respiratory conditions, the ministry said.
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