The Central Weather Bureau yesterday said that the nation would have fewer than average typhoons this year and summer temperatures would be higher than normal.
"There's a normal cycle that dictates the number of typhoons in the area, and it seems that we happen to be at the low point of the cycle," Daniel Wu (
"While the average number of typhoons in Taiwan each year is 4.5, our forecasts show that we're likely to have only three or four [this year]," Wu said.
Although there will likely be fewer typhoons, Wu called on the public to "be well prepared when a typhoon hits ... as approximately 80 to 85 percent of weather-related disasters in the country occur during typhoons."
Wu also warned of hotter summer days ahead.
"Since 1998, we've observed a trend of rising summer temperatures, and we expect such a phenomenon to continue," Wu said.
He said the CWB defines a "hot day" as any day when the temperature rises above 35?C.
"On average, we have 8.3 hot days each year; however, our forecasts show that there will be more hot days this year," Wu said.
Wu attributed the rising summer temperatures to global warming and over-urbanization.
He also announced that the bureau will launch a location-oriented typhoon forecast system this year.
"We'll forecast which cities will be within a 120km radius of a typhoon during the next six hours," Wu said, comparing it to the precipitation forecast.
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Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching