Daytime temperatures could reach 35°C this week as a frontal system has moved away, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said yesterday.
Bureau forecaster Douglas Hsiao (蕭家森) said the frontal system had moved north out to sea because of a strong high air pressure system from the Pacific Ocean.
“The weather in the next three to four days is expected to be hot and temperatures during the day could reach 34°C or 35°C,” he said.
Hsiao said sunny skies were expected nationwide during the mornings. Thundershowers would occur at about noon, however, with some areas receiving heavier rainfall, he said.
“Unlike the afternoon showers last week that continued into the evening, the afternoon showers this week will be shorter,” he said.
As the high air pressure from the Pacific is forecast to weaken by Friday, Hsiao said more regions would experience thundershowers in the afternoon. Aside from mountainous areas in the northern and central parts of the country, chances of afternoon thundershowers would be high over the plains as well, he said.
The bureau reminded high school graduates, who are scheduled to take entrance exams from Thursday through Saturday, to take precautionary measures against heat stroke and sunburn.
Meanwhile, the bureau and Taipei City Government signed a memorandum of understanding last week to provide instant weather forecast at the Taipei International Flora Exposition, which will open in November.
The memorandum would require the bureau to provide an updated two-day weather forecast every three hours. This could help horticulturists to plan ahead and take necessary measures to protect their flowers.
In related news, a magnitude 5.2 earthquake hit the nation at 2:05am yesterday.
The epicenter of the earthquake was located 6.2km northwest of the bureau’s observation center in Nioudou (牛鬥), Yilan County. The depth of the earthquake was 64.9km.
Bureau statistics showed that the strongest quake — magnitude 3 — was recorded in Luodong (羅東), Yilan and Banciao (板橋), Taipei County. Taoyuan City (桃園), Hsinchu City (新竹) and eight other locations recorded a magnitude two shake.
There were no reports of damage.
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