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.
The inspection equipment and data transmission system for new robotic dogs that Taipei is planning to use for sidewalk patrols were developed by a Taiwanese company, the city’s New Construction Office said today, dismissing concerns that the China-made robots could pose a security risk. The city is bringing in smart robotic dogs to help with sidewalk inspections, Taipei Deputy Mayor Lee Ssu-chuan (李四川) said on Facebook. Equipped with a panoramic surveillance system, the robots would be able to automatically flag problems and easily navigate narrow sidewalks, making inspections faster and more accurate, Lee said. By collecting more accurate data, they would help Taipei
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
TAKING STOCK: The USMC is rebuilding a once-abandoned airfield in Palau to support large-scale ground operations as China’s missile range grows, Naval News reported The US Marine Corps (USMC) is considering new sites for stockpiling equipment in the West Pacific to harden military supply chains and enhance mobility across the Indo-Pacific region, US-based Naval News reported on Saturday. The proposed sites in Palau — one of Taiwan’s diplomatic allies — and Australia would enable a “rapid standup of stored equipment within a year” of the program’s approval, the report said, citing documents published by the USMC last month. In Palau, the service is rebuilding a formerly abandoned World War II-era airfield and establishing ancillary structures to support large-scale ground operations “as China’s missile range and magazine
A 72-year-old man in Kaohsiung was sentenced to 40 days in jail after he was found having sex with a 67-year-old woman under a slide in a public park on Sunday afternoon. At 3pm on Sunday, a mother surnamed Liang (梁) was with her child at a neighborhood park when they found the man, surnamed Tsai (蔡), and woman, surnamed Huang (黃), underneath the slide. Liang took her child away from the scene, took photographs of the two and called the police, who arrived and arrested the couple. During questioning, Tsai told police that he had met Huang that day and offered to
RSS