Former Central Weather Bureau (CWB) Weather Forecast Center director Daniel Wu (吳德榮) yesterday said that the nation’s ability to store water has dropped significantly, adding that media coverage of heavy rainfall on Monday was misleading.
Wu made the comments on his weather column on the Chinese Television System Web site, criticizing what he said were ridiculous headlines for stories on the heavy rainfall on Sunday night and Monday.
Wu said close attention has been paid to news of rain because of concerns over the nation’s worst water shortage of the past decade.
“The problem in Taiwan is even though we have relatively high rainfall, we have small reservoirs. The reservoirs cannot store much, so a lot of the water flows into the sea,” he said. “Meanwhile, the reservoirs have growing silt deposits that are reducing their capacity to store water.”
Wu said that the reservoirs could provide water for five or six months 20 years ago, but now they could only meet demand for three months during the dry season.
The nation has seen water shortage crises four times in the past five years and the nation should expect the crises to occur more frequently, he said.
“The nation will only face more challenges if it cannot add water storage facilities,” he said.
Meanwhile, Wu said the media had written sensational, misleading and irrational headlines for stories on the rainfall.
“The media was eager to report rises in water levels, not knowing that changes in the water levels would only occur after water flows into the reservoirs, which would take one or two days,” he said. “Headlines such as ‘Where has all the rain gone?’ and ‘God does not put the rain in the right place’ are misleading and send the wrong message.”
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
COOLING OFF: Temperatures are expected to fall to lows of about 20°C on Sunday and possibly 18°C to 19°C next week, following a wave of northeasterly winds on Friday The Central Weather Administration (CWA) on Sunday forecast more rain and cooler temperatures for northern Taiwan this week, with the mercury dropping to lows of 18°C, as another wave of northeasterly winds sweeps across the country. The current northeasterly winds would continue to affect Taiwan through today, with precipitation peaking today, bringing increased rainfall to windward areas, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said. The weather system would weaken slightly tomorrow before another, stronger wave arrives on Friday, lasting into next week, Liu said. From yesterday to today, northern Taiwan can expect cool, wet weather, with lows of 22°C to 23°C in most areas,
Taiwan sweltered through its hottest October on record, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, the latest in a string of global temperature records. The main island endured its highest average temperature since 1950, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng said. Temperatures the world over have soared in recent years as human-induced climate change contributes to ever more erratic weather patterns. Taiwan’s average temperature was 27.381°C as of Thursday, Liu said. Liu said the average could slip 0.1°C by the end of yesterday, but it would still be higher than the previous record of 27.009°C in 2016. "The temperature only started lowering around Oct. 18 or 19
RSS