A rare sight of snow wowed people nationwide yesterday, from Taipei to Pingtung County.
Under the influence of a strong cold air mass, many places in Taiwan — even those located at an altitude of only 400m to 500m — received a covering of snow or soft hail overnight, exciting locals, who likely have never seen snow in real life since they were born.
Despite low temperatures, people were seen swarming to elevated areas, including Keelung’s 726m-high Jiangziliaoshan (姜子寮山), Taipei’s Yangmingshan (陽明山) and New Taipei City’s Linkou (林口) and Pinglin (坪林) districts, to appreciate the natural beauty of the snow.
Photo: CNA
As of yesterday morning, the accumulated snow had reached 20cm in Taoyuan’s Lalashan (拉拉山) Forest Recreation Area.
The Motian (摩天嶺-) mountain area along the Southern Cross-Island Highway also reported showers of snow started at 4am yesterday, as well as on Yunlin County’s Jiananyun Peak (嘉南雲峰), where snow began falling at about 11am yesterday at an altitude of about 1,500m.
Under the influence of a cold air mass, the outlying island group of Penghu experienced soft hail yesterday morning.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
Pingtung County’s Dawushan (大武山) also reported soft hail from halfway up the mountain to the summit at midnight on Saturday.
The Central Weather Bureau said 27 weather stations in different parts of Taiwan registered their lowest temperatures yesterday.
The temperature in Taipei fell to 4ºC, the lowest level detected in the capital in 44 years and the second-lowest since 3.2 degrees was recorded in 1972.
Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times
It was minus-3.1ºC in the Yangmingshan area, 5.8ºC in Yilan County’s Suao (蘇澳), and 4.2ºC in Taoyuan’s Sinwu District (新屋) — all new lows for these places. In New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋), it was 3.8ºC yesterday morning — the second-lowest level in history.
The temperature in Taipei is forecast to dip to 3ºC early today, while central and southern regions are expected to experience temperatures of 4ºC and 6ºC respectively, the bureau said.
Chances of precipitation are expected to be low across the nation today, apart from in mountainous regions higher than 600m.
The bureau urged people to be aware of icy road conditions.
The bureau has issued special warnings for low temperatures and heavy rain across Taiwan, urging the public to take precautions and keep warm before the cold wave leaves Taiwan tomorrow, when temperatures across the nation are expected to rebound noticeably.
NOT BUYING IT: One of the goals of Beijing’s Cross-Strait Media People Summit was to draw mainstream media executives to discuss the ‘one country, two systems’ formula Taiwanese news media insist on press freedom and professionalism, and would never become a tool of China’s “united front” campaign, Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said yesterday, responding to media queries about the lack of Taiwanese media executives at the Cross-Strait Media People Summit in Beijing. Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Chairman Wang Huning (王滬寧) was reportedly furious that no Taiwanese media representatives attended a scheduled meeting with him on Thursday last week. “Beijing should take Taiwan’s determination to pursue freedom and democracy seriously. We also hope that it will not use vicious means to interfere with Taiwan’s development into a
IMMIGRATION REFORM: The legislative amendments aim to protect the rights of families to reunify, and to attract skilled professionals to stay and work in Taiwan Foreigners who are highly skilled professionals, top-prize winners in professional disciplines, investment immigration applicants or have made special contributions to Taiwan can soon apply for permanent residency on behalf of their spouses and minor or disabled children after the legislature approved amendments to the Immigration Act (入出國及移民法). The amendments, which were proposed by the Ministry of the Interior and approved by the Executive Yuan on Jan. 12, aim to attract foreign talent to Taiwan and encourage them to stay. They would take effect once they are signed by President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文). The amendments involved changing 63 articles, making it the biggest
FIRST STEP: Business groups in Taiwan welcomed the deal, which does not include tariff reductions at this stage, as they called for the elimination of double taxation Taiwan and the US yesterday signed an initial agreement under the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade. The agreement was signed yesterday morning by Representative to the US Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) and American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Managing Director Ingrid Larson in Washington, the Office of Trade Negotiations in Taipei said. The ceremony was witnessed by Minister Without Portfolio John Deng (鄧振中) and Deputy US Trade Representative Sarah Bianchi. Taiwan and the US started talks under the initiative in August last year, after Taipei was left out of the Washington-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework. “The deal that will be signed tonight is not only very historic,
Beijing yesterday blamed US “provocation” for an incident last week in which a Chinese plane crossed in front of a US surveillance aircraft over the South China Sea. The incident came at a time of frayed ties between Washington and Beijing over issues including Taiwan and the shooting down of an alleged Chinese spy balloon that flew over the US this year. “The United States’ long-term and frequent sending of ships and planes to conduct close surveillance on China seriously harms China’s national sovereignty and security,” Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Mao Ning (毛寧) said when asked about the latest incident. “This
RSS