Daytime temperatures in Taipei City will likely exceed 37ºC again today, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday.
Bureau forecaster Lee Hsiang-yuan (李湘源) said the nation remained under the influence of a high air pressure system from the Pacific Ocean, making it difficult to generate the convection that leads to rain.
Rainfall would be likelier in mountainous areas, he said.
Starting tomorrow, however, “the temperature could drop to between 34ºC and 35ºC, which is a typical high temperature for summertime,” Lee said. “Aside from mountainous areas, there is also a high chance of rain in plains areas, which could help lower the temperature a little.”
The interaction of high air pressure, warm and humid southwestern winds and hot air generated by air conditioners and machinery caused the temperature in Taipei to surge to 37.1ºC at 10:15am yesterday. It rose again at 11:23am to 37.3ºC and reached 37.7ºC at about 3pm.
Keelung City was the hottest urban area in Taiwan yesterday, hitting 37.9ºC around noon. So far, the highest recorded temperature this summer has been 38.6ºC in Taipei City on Saturday.
For today, a high of 37ºC is expected in Taipei, 36ºC in the north, 34ºC in the south, 34ºC in the east and 34ºC in central Taiwan.
Meanwhile, days of hot weather have created concerns about the peak power capacity of Taiwan Power Co. The firm said yesterday’s peak consumption occurred at about 1:30pm, reaching 33.08 million kilowatts. This is the highest level of power consumption for three years.
The previous record was set on July 23, 2007, when electricity consumption reached 32.79 million kilowatts.
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