The Central Weather Bureau yesterday issued cold and heavy rain warnings, but saying that cold and wet weather might end today.
Temperatures across the nation yesterday were all well below 10 degrees Celsius. At 7.4 degrees Celsius, the lowest temperature was measured in northern Taiwan in coastal areas.
Yesterday, it became drier in the afternoon. However, forecasters said that weather would become rainy again today with the arrival of a huge rain band from southern China. Fortunately, the weather might be more comfortable than last week, as temperatures are expected to increase today. Forecasters said that the rainy weather could come to an end by Saturday.
PHOTO: WANG MIN-WEI, TAIPEI TIMES
Datun mountain park received snow on Saturday evening, attracting tourists to it and also Yangmingshan, one of the most popular scenic spots in that area. Yesterday, it also snowed on Jade Mountain, Taiwan's highest mountain, from 9:20am to 10am, leaving a 1cm-thick layer of snow. According to the bureau, early this month, the total amount of snow that has accumulated on Jade Mountain once reached 168cm. But on Saturday evening, approximately 120cm of snow covered the mountain. Yesterday, only 103cm covered the mountain as heavy rains washed away a portion of the snow.
Tea farmers in central Taiwan said the cold snap had seriously affected their crops, and predicted the harvest could be delayed for up to a month and a half. They predict that crop yields might decrease to only 30 percent of last year's yield.
The Cabinet's Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics yesterday released the latest statistics on financial loss resulting from the recent cold weather. The report suggests that between Feb. 1 and March 9, total losses in the agriculture industry were NT$1.08 billion. Taichung County is the most seriously affected county, with about NT$325 million in losses. It is followed by Nantou and Miaoli counties, whose losses were NT$266 million and NT$241 million, respectively.
Affected farmers can apply for government relief and low-interest loans, according to the Council of Agriculture. Agricultural officials said that pear, tea and strawberry crops were the most affected crops and the total area of damaged crops span 14,913 hectares.
In addition, the financial losses in the fishery sector reached NT$5.7 million, including the die-off of fish in coastal areas and fish farms.
Meanwhile, the government statistics suggest that accidents involving carbon monoxide poisoning in households between Jan. 1 and March 9 led to the deaths of 29 people.
Taiwanese paleontologists have discovered fossil evidence that pythons up to 4m long inhabited Taiwan during the Pleistocene epoch, reporting their findings in the international scientific journal Historical Biology. National Taiwan University (NTU) Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology associate professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修) led the team that discovered the largest snake fossil ever found in Taiwan. The single trunk vertebra was discovered in Tainan at the Chiting Formation, dated to between 400,000 and 800,000 years ago in the Middle Pleistocene, the paper said. The area also produced Taiwan’s first avian fossil, as well as crocodile, mammoth, saber-toothed cat and rhinoceros fossils, it said. Discoveries
Taiwanese paleontologists have discovered fossil evidence that pythons up to 4m long inhabited Taiwan during the Pleistocene epoch, reporting their findings in the international scientific journal Historical Biology. National Taiwan University (NTU) Institute of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology associate professor Tsai Cheng-hsiu (蔡政修) led the team that discovered the largest snake fossil ever found in Taiwan. A single trunk vertebra was discovered in Tainan at the Chiting Formation, dated to between 800,000 to 400,000 years ago in the Middle Pleistocene, the paper said. The area also produced Taiwan’s first avian fossil, as well as crocodile, mammoth, sabre-toothed cat and rhinoceros fossils, it said. Discoveries
Whether Japan would help defend Taiwan in case of a cross-strait conflict would depend on the US and the extent to which Japan would be allowed to act under the US-Japan Security Treaty, former Japanese minister of defense Satoshi Morimoto said. As China has not given up on the idea of invading Taiwan by force, to what extent Japan could support US military action would hinge on Washington’s intention and its negotiation with Tokyo, Morimoto said in an interview with the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) yesterday. There has to be sufficient mutual recognition of how Japan could provide
UPDATED TEST: The new rules aim to assess drivers’ awareness of risky behaviors and how they respond under certain circumstances, the Highway Bureau said Driver’s license applicants who fail to yield to pedestrians at intersections or to check blind spots, or omit pointing-and-calling procedures would fail the driving test, the Highway Bureau said yesterday. The change is set to be implemented at the end of the month, and is part of the bureau’s reform of the driving portion of the test, which has been criticized for failing to assess whether drivers can operate vehicles safely. Sedan drivers would be tested regarding yielding to pedestrians and turning their heads to check blind spots, while drivers of large vehicles would be tested on their familiarity with pointing-and-calling
RSS