Hot and sunny weather will continue through Saturday, with highs reaching 34˚C, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday.
Bureau forecaster Wang Jun-sian (王君賢) said people can expect sunny weather nationwide until Saturday.
He said that chances of afternoon showers were high in the northern and eastern regions as well as mountainous areas today and tomorrow.
PHOTO: CNA
Because of high air pressure from the Pacific Ocean, the highs for today and tomorrow are likely to be between 33˚C and 34˚C.
Wang said highs from Thursday through Saturday would drop slightly to 32˚C. More areas, however, are expected to see afternoon showers, including mountainous areas nationwide, northern and northeastern regions as well as central Taiwan.
The bureau said the weather was expected to change on Sunday, when a frontal system is scheduled to hit the country.
Chances of showers or thundershowers will be high nationwide, including areas in central and southern Taiwan facing imminent droughts.
Meanwhile, people heading to Kinmen and Mastu this week are encouraged to check with airline companies to see if there are any changes in departures after the bureau warned that thick fog could lower visibility, forcing airports to shut down.
In related news, the Water Resources Agency said yesterday a drought in the south was likely to persist through this month despite some afternoon thundershowers in recent days.
Wu Yueh-hsi (吳約西), deputy director of the agency, said that although the plum rain season began early this month, rainfall in the south — particularly in reservoirs’ upstream catchment areas — had so far been insignificant.
Despite the rain, Gaoping River (高屏溪) — the major water source in southern Taiwan — has seen a decrease in water yield compared with other years, Wu said.
The average water yield of the river totals 1.02 million tonnes each day at present, lower than the average daily yield over the previous four months.
Water rationing will be imposed if the daily yield drops below 840,000 tonnes, he said.
“It is worrisome that water reserves in southern Taiwan have not increased with the advent of the plum rain season,” Wu said.
Taiwan’s dry season usually ends when the plum rains begin in May.
Wu said the Ministry of Economic Affairs would convene a meeting on Thursday to review the nation’s water supplies and outline strategies for dealing with the drought.
Additional reporting by CNA
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