After the nation experienced its warmest winter in history, people can expect a warm and dry spring due to a weak El Nino effect, the Central Weather Bureau said on Tuesday.
Winter in Taiwan generally lasts from December to February. While there was no cold wave between December and last month, there were five cold air masses and one strong cold air mass, bureau data showed.
There were also no cold waves recorded in the winter months between December 1997 and February 1988; December 2000 and February 2001; and December 2016 and February 2017, the data showed.
The average temperature was 20.5oC, 2.2 degrees higher than the climate average, making it the warmest winter since 1947, when records began, the bureau said.
The bureau defines a cold wave as a meteorological system that would cause the low temperature in Taipei to drop below 10oC.
Rainfall last winter mostly occurred in the northeast coast, as well as the mountainous area of northern Taiwan, which experienced higher-than-normal precipitation, the data showed.
However, rainfall in the west coast was below average, which resulted in a water shortage in southern Taiwan, the bureau said.
Observations of equatorial Pacific sea surface temperatures showed that the El Nino effect that is developing in the central Pacific Ocean at the moment is an atypical one, because it is relatively weak, with a higher sea surface temperature found on the west side, also known as the El Nino 4 region, Weather Forecast Center Deputy Director Fong Chin-tzu (馮欽賜) said.
“Statistically, when such a phenomenon happens in the winter, it would be followed by a warmer spring,” Fong said.
Although the bureau forecast that rainfall this spring is likely to be within or below the normal range from this month to May, Fong said that more rain is expected in central and southern Taiwan this month compared with other parts of the nation.
Generally, rainfall this month and next is forecast to be normal to low, Fong said.
As for May, the traditional start of the “plum rain” season, the bureau forecast normal rainfall, but added that it is hard to make predictions two months from now.
The nation could still see a cold wave this month, as the bureau has recorded cold waves in March before, Fong said.
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
RSS