The temperature in Taipei broke an 82-year-old record yesterday, hitting 38.7℃ , according to the Central Weather Bureau.
Air currents from Typhoon Etau, now battering Japan, brought rainfall yesterday to eastern and southern Taiwan.
But in the drought-stricken north, people can walk across the dry bed of the Hsintien River.
The temperature hit the record at 1:05pm yesterday.
According to the bureau, the previous record of 38.6℃ was set on July 31, 1921.
"It's because Taipei Basin is on the leeward side in the summer when southwest wind blows," said Wu Wan-hua (
Wu said that the weather was affected by peripheral winds induced by Typhoon Etau.
In addition, foehn winds, warm dry winds coming off the lee slopes of a mountain range, heated the basin.
The highest temperature this year, 39.2℃ , was set on May 7 in Tawu township, Taitung County, due to the effects of foehn winds.
The all-time high record in Taiwan, 39.6℃ , was also set in Tawu in May 1998.
Weather forecasters said yesterday that residents in the north should be prepared for possible water shortages because the rainfall for this month and next month may remain low.
According to Chen Guay-hong (
"The sub-high currently covering part of China and all of Taiwan is extraordinarily strong this year," Chen said.
Beginning today, Keelung City will impose a second phase of water restrictions, which will affect some industrial users.
The measure is designed to limit the consumption of water at Keelung's Hsinshan Reservoir.
According to the Water Resources Agency, the reservoir will be empty by early next month in the absence of a heavy rainfall.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs will convene a meeting on Aug. 14 to review the latest rainfall records and water levels. The ministry will study the possibility of tighter water restrictions in the north.
Officials at the Feitsui Reservoir Administration under the Taipei City Government urged residents to conserve water.
The Feitsui Reservoir, one of the major water suppliers to the north, gained only 36.5mm of rainfall last month. It's level last month hit a record low for July.
Officials said that water supplies to the residential sector would not be affected before the end this month but added that tougher restrictions may be imposed in Taipei next month.
Beijing could eventually see a full amphibious invasion of Taiwan as the only "prudent" way to bring about unification, the US Department of Defense said in a newly released annual report to Congress. The Pentagon's "Annual Report to Congress: Military and Security Developments Involving the People's Republic of China 2025," was in many ways similar to last year’s report but reorganized the analysis of the options China has to take over Taiwan. Generally, according to the report, Chinese leaders view the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) capabilities for a Taiwan campaign as improving, but they remain uncertain about its readiness to successfully seize
Taiwan is getting a day off on Christmas for the first time in 25 years. The change comes after opposition parties passed a law earlier this year to add or restore five public holidays, including Constitution Day, which falls on today, Dec. 25. The day marks the 1947 adoption of the constitution of the Republic of China, as the government in Taipei is formally known. Back then the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) governed China from Nanjing. When the KMT, now an opposition party in Taiwan, passed the legislation on holidays, it said that they would help “commemorate the history of national development.” That
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Snow fell on Yushan (Jade Mountain, 玉山) yesterday morning as a continental cold air mass sent temperatures below freezing on Taiwan’s tallest peak, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Snowflakes were seen on Yushan’s north peak from 6:28am to 6:38am, but they did not fully cover the ground and no accumulation was recorded, the CWA said. As of 7:42am, the lowest temperature recorded across Taiwan was minus-5.5°C at Yushan’s Fengkou observatory and minus-4.7°C at the Yushan observatory, CWA data showed. On Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County, a low of 1.3°C was recorded at 6:39pm, when ice pellets fell at Songsyue Lodge (松雪樓), a
RSS