People in Taipei and New Taipei City (新北市) yesterday experienced thunderstorms and hail as convective cloud clusters formed in the afternoon.
The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said torrential rain started falling in Taipei at about noon. Soon afterward, hail was reported in several districts in Taipei, including Wanhua (萬華), Shilin (士林) and Zhongzheng (中正) districts.
The hail and heavy rain downed some trees in Taipei, including near the Presidential Office, Lao Song Elementary School, Chengde Road and Chongqing N Road, Sec 3.
Photo: CNA
The roof of the Judicial Yuan building, a designated national monument, was damaged by hailstones.
The rain slightly disrupted the operation of the Taipei MRT system, as water was reported to have leaked into Zhongxiao Xinsheng Station, the transfer station for the system’s Nangang Line and Xinzhuang Line.
Bureau records show that the last time that hail fell in Taipei or New Taipei City was on July 2, 1998. The first recorded time that it hailed in the city was on March 16, 1979.
Bureau forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said that drastic weather, such as hailstorms or tornadoes, can appear in Taiwan during the transition from spring to summer, especially when strong convective cloud clusters form.
The bureau forecast that the chances of drastic weather remain high this week due to the influence of a frontal system.
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