People can expect a drier and warmer spring this year, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said yesterday, ahead of the start of the spring season this weekend.
The equatorial Pacific sea temperature is relatively warmer at the moment, which is likely to reduce humidity across the nation and cause temperatures to rise further, Weather Forecast Center Deputy Director Fong Chin-tzu (馮欽賜) said, adding that the phenomenon would be particularly apparent next month and in April.
The spring weather forecast for this year generally corresponds to the trend that has emerged since the 1990s, with rain in the west coast decreasing over the years, Fong said.
Photo: Hsiao Yu-hsin, Taipei Times
The nation would see normal to lower than normal rainfall from next month to April, the bureau forecast.
The average temperature between next month and May has a greater chance of being warmer than normal, it said.
Despite forecasts of a warmer spring, the bureau said there could still be cold spells coming from the north.
Between next month and April, thick fog would frequently occur on the west coast, as well as in Kinmen and Lienchiang counties, it added.
Before the start of the “plum rains” in May and June, central and southern Taiwan would continue to experience a dry spell, the bureau said, urging residents in these areas to conserve water during this period.
As the weather tends to change faster in springtime, which in turn raises the level of uncertainty in weather forecasts, the public is advised to regularly check weather updates from the bureau, it said.
The nation experienced a warmer-than-normal winter, despite the arrival of two cold spells — one strong cold air mass and four weaker cold air masses between December last year and February, it said.
The phenomenon was caused by a weaker high-pressure system, it said.
The central, southern and southeastern regions saw normal to slightly higher than normal rainfall this winter due to the humidity brought by weather fronts and cloud systems in southern China, bureau statistics showed.
Although rainfall in the north and northeast was greater than that in the central and southern regions, it was still slightly less than normal, the bureau said.
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