Expect a lot of rain in the next two months, the Central Weather Bureau warned yesterday as the nation's annual plum rain season approaches.
The natural weather cycle means the nation can expect heavy rainfall from mid-May through to mid-June, said Daniel Wu (吳德榮), director of the Weather Forecast Center at the bureau.
This period of time is referred to as meiyu jijie (梅雨季節), meaning "plum rain season," as it coincides with the plum season.
Rainy season
The plum rain season is the main annual rainy season in the country, as, on average, 25 percent of annual rainfall in the north comes within these two months, and "in south Taiwan, over 30 percent of [annual] rainfall comes during the plum rain season," Wu said.
"So far, we haven't seen anything that would cause dramatic change to this year's plum rain season, both rainfall and temperature forecasts fall within the average range," he said.
Within the two months, the amount of rainfall throughout the nation is expected to be between 560mm and 570mm, except in Hualien where the amount of rainfall is expected to be approximately 414mm, according to the forecast.
Temperature
Average temperatures in May will be in the low to mid-20s throughout the nation, except in the south where the average is expected to be from 26.9oC to 27.5oC.
In June, the average temperature will rise throughout the country to between 27oC to 28oC on average.
Although the plum rain season is a natural phenomenon, unexpected natural disasters could occur, Wu warned.
"Natural disasters caused by exceptionally heavy rain, thunder storms, strong winds, isolated occurrences of hail and tornadoes are possible," Wu said.
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