The temperatures in Taipei yesterday afternoon set a record high for the nation this summer and the year, at 38.5°C, the eighth-highest since a weather observation station was established in the city in 1897, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said.
Taipei’s temperature reached 38.3°C at 11:57am, setting a new record for the summer, before the record was broken again at 1:57pm, when the temperature rose to 38.5°C.
Bureau records showed that the city’s highest recorded temperature was 39.3°C, which was reached on Aug. 8, 2013.
Photo: CNA
However, yesterday was “the start of autumn” (立秋), the 13th solar term on the traditional East Asian calendar, although autumn in Taiwan does not usually start until next month, bureau forecaster Hsu Chung-yi (徐仲毅) said.
Hot and sunny skies are forecast to continue nationwide until the weekend, Hsu said.
Former CWB Weather Forecast Center director Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said the hot and sunny days that began on Sunday were mainly caused by a dry and warm continental air mass that entered the East China Sea off Taiwan’s northern coast.
The continental air mass, along with the sedimentation airflow on the circumfluence of Typhoon Noru and shortwave radiation from the sun, combined to raise the mercury, Wu said.
Historical data showed that new records for high temperature are usually set around the start of the autumn, and that the 24 solar terms on the traditional calendar cannot explain the change in the weather, he said.
The European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts indicate that temperatures will continue to be influenced by the continental air mass at least until Thursday, with high temperatures in the greater Taipei area likely to reach about 37°C, he said.
High temperatures around the nation would top 34°C to 36°C, Wu said, adding that isolated showers or afternoon thundershowers are forecast for the southwest, mountainous areas as well as the plains in central and southern Taiwan.
Temperatures are forecast to drop by 1°C to 2°C on Friday and Saturday, he added.
Noru, which affected Japan on Sunday and yesterday, will gradually weaken, Wu said.
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