The mercury in Taipei hit 39.3°C yesterday afternoon, the highest temperature recorded in the city by the Central Weather Bureau since records began 117 years ago.
The city’s observation station has been in the plaza in front of the bureau’s headquarters on Gongyuan Road since 1896.
Data from the bureau showed that the city’s previous record high temperature was set on Aug. 9, 2003, when the temperature reached 38.8°C.
Photo: CNA
The bureau said the temperature rose to 38.8°C at 1:16pm yesterday, which tied the record set in 2003. It went up further to 38.9°C at 1:44pm, setting a new record, but that did not last long, as the temperature reached 39.3°C at 1:58pm.
Aside from being the highest temperature recorded in the city, the temperature yesterday was also the seventh-highest temperature recorded in the nation in 117 years.
Data from the bureau also showed that most of the historic high temperatures in Taipei have occurred in the past 10 years.
The nation’s highest temperature was recorded in Taitung City on May 9, 2004, when the mercury hit 40.2°C.
The high temperature in Taitung was caused by a foehn wind, the bureau said.
The second-highest temperature of 39.9°C was recorded in Taichung City on July 1, 2004. That was followed by 39.7°C recorded in Taitung City on May 7, 1988, and 39.5°C in Taitung City on June 7, 1942.
Cheng Ming-dean (鄭明典), director of the bureau’s weather forecast center, said the high temperature in Taipei was caused by a wind from the south and the fact that the capital lies in a basin.
He said it is rare for Taiwan to experience extreme weather conditions because of the mutual influence of winds from inland and from the sea. Taipei was the nation’s only city that experienced such an extremely high temperature yesterday, he said.
The bureau said that the weather may cool tomorrow when a high-pressure system in the Pacific is expected to start moving north. A wet weather system from the south could move north close to Taiwan, which would increase the chances of afternoon thundershowers on the west coast, it said.
From Monday to Wednesday, winds from the southeast are expected to increase the chances of rain in the southeast, east and the north, the bureau said.
As the temperature rose in Taipei yesterday, the Taipei City Government’s Department of Labor launched inspections at construction sites and other outdoor workplaces to prevent workers from getting heat stroke.
The department instructed employers and construction site managers to allow workers to take a 30-minute break after working for four hours when the temperature rises to or above 36°C.
Employers should also provide rest areas with shade and cease work at noon among other measures to prevent heat stroke, the department said.
Department of Labor Chief Secretary Wu Meng-lin (吳夢麟) said the department conducts regular inspections during summer to assure the safety of workers outdoors.
Meanwhile, the Taipei City Government’s Department of Environmental Protection dispatched 12 street sweepers to spray water on streets to cool the temperature in the city, while also keeping the streets clean.
Department of Environmental Protection Division Chief Chiu Kuo-shu (邱國書) said the temperature of asphalt roads can rise as high as 54°C in summer and spraying water on the road can cool the temperature of the asphalt to about 49°C.
The street sweepers used recycled water from the Dihua Sewage Treatment Plant and the Neihu Sewage Treatment Plant. The department has used 3,155 tonnes of recycled water to cool the city’s roads or clean the streets so far this year, he said.
CHAOS: Iranians took to the streets playing celebratory music after reports of Khamenei’s death on Saturday, while mourners also gathered in Tehran yesterday Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed in a major attack on Iran launched by Israel and the US, throwing the future of the Islamic republic into doubt and raising the risk of regional instability. Iranian state television and the state-run IRNA news agency announced the 86-year-old’s death early yesterday. US President Donald Trump said it gave Iranians their “greatest chance” to “take back” their country. The announcements came after a joint US and Israeli aerial bombardment that targeted Iranian military and governmental sites. Trump said the “heavy and pinpoint bombing” would continue through the week or as long
TRUST: The KMT said it respected the US’ timing and considerations, and hoped it would continue to honor its commitments to helping Taiwan bolster its defenses and deterrence US President Donald Trump is delaying a multibillion-dollar arms sale to Taiwan to ensure his visit to Beijing is successful, a New York Times report said. The weapons sales package has stalled in the US Department of State, the report said, citing US officials it did not identify. The White House has told agencies not to push forward ahead of Trump’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平), it said. The two last month held a phone call to discuss trade and geopolitical flashpoints ahead of the summit. Xi raised the Taiwan issue and urged the US to handle arms sales to
State-run CPC Corp, Taiwan (CPC, 台灣中油) yesterday said that it had confirmed on Saturday night with its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and crude oil suppliers that shipments are proceeding as scheduled and that domestic supplies remain unaffected. The CPC yesterday announced the gasoline and diesel prices will rise by NT$0.2 and NT$0.4 per liter, respectively, starting Monday, citing Middle East tensions and blizzards in the eastern United States. CPC also iterated it has been reducing the proportion of crude oil imports from the Middle East and diversifying its supply sources in the past few years in response to geopolitical risks, expanding
Pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai’s (黎智英) fraud conviction and prison sentence were yesterday overturned by a Hong Kong court, in a surprise legal decision that comes soon after Lai was jailed for 20 years on a separate national security charge. Judges Jeremy Poon (潘兆初), Anthea Pang (彭寶琴) and Derek Pang (彭偉昌) said in the judgement that they allowed the appeal from Lai, and another defendant in the case, to proceed, as a lower court judge had “erred.” “The Court of Appeal gave them leave to appeal against their conviction, allowed their appeals, quashed the convictions and set aside the sentences,” the judges
RSS