The mercury is expected to drop in the northern parts of the country later this week as another cold air mass is forecast to arrive on Thursday, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday.
The bureau said daytime temperatures began rising yesterday after the cold air mass that lingered over the nation at the weekend weakened. However, chances of showers also rose nationwide as clouds in the south moved north.
Residents in the northern coast and mountainous areas in central and southern Taiwan could experience heavy rain, it said.
Photo: CNA
The bureau said rainy weather in northern and eastern regions would continue until the weekend because of the cold air mass, with nighttime temperatures dropping as low as 11°C.
Meanwhile, people in Taiwan will have a chance to see another total lunar eclipse on Saturday, the bureau said.
The first total lunar eclipse this year was on June 16.
Cheng Chen-fong (鄭振豐), a specialist at the bureau’s Astronomical Observatory, said this time was different because people would actually witness the complete process of the total lunar eclipse, which would last six hours. The last time such a phenomenon was observed in Taiwan was on July 16, 2000, he said, adding that it would not occur again until Jan. 31, 2018.
The bureau said the moon would start moving into the earth’s penumbra at 7:31pm.
First contact, which occurs when the earth’s penumbra makes contact with the outer limb of the moon, would result in a missing corner on the right side of the moon. The phenomenon would occur at 8:45pm.
Cheng said the corner would slowly expand until the moon completely enters the earth’s umbra, adding that a total lunar eclipse would be visible by around 10:06pm.
The total eclipse will last until 10:58pm, when the moon will start leaving the earth’s umbra and be completely out of it by 1:31am. The bureau also said the eclipse would be visible to the naked eye, although observers were advised to use binoculars to get a better view.
As rainy weather is forecast for northern and eastern regions as well as mountainous areas in central and southern Taiwan this weekend, residents in the plains areas of central and southern Taiwan have a better chance of witnessing the lunar eclipse.
Taiwan would benefit from more integrated military strategies and deployments if the US and its allies treat the East China Sea, the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea as a “single theater of operations,” a Taiwanese military expert said yesterday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said he made the assessment after two Japanese military experts warned of emerging threats from China based on a drill conducted this month by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) Eastern Theater Command. Japan Institute for National Fundamentals researcher Maki Nakagawa said the drill differed from the
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his
A rally held by opposition parties yesterday demonstrates that Taiwan is a democratic country, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that if opposition parties really want to fight dictatorship, they should fight it on Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) held a protest with the theme “against green communists and dictatorship,” and was joined by the Taiwan People’s Party. Lai said the opposition parties are against what they called the “green communists,” but do not fight against the “Chinese communists,” adding that if they really want to fight dictatorship, they should go to the right place and face
A 79-year-old woman died today after being struck by a train at a level crossing in Taoyuan, police said. The woman, identified by her surname Wang (王), crossed the tracks even though the barriers were down in Jhongli District’s (中壢) Neili (內壢) area, the Taoyuan Branch of the Railway Police Bureau said. Surveillance footage showed that the railway barriers were lowered when Wang entered the crossing, but why she ventured onto the track remains under investigation, the police said. Police said they received a report of an incident at 6:41am involving local train No. 2133 that was heading from Keelung to Chiayi City. Investigators