A front is to bring wet and cooler weather starting today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast yesterday, and added that this year’s first plum rain front is likely to arrive next week.
Daytime highs reached 27oC to 31oC nationwide yesterday, while temperatures hovered at about 22oC to 27oC in Penghu County, 18oC to 26oC in Kinmen County and 17oC to 23oC in Lienchiang County (Matsu), the CWA said.
However, a weather front would set in today, as northeasterly winds strengthen, bringing sporadic showers and thunderstorms to the central and northern parts of the western half of Taiwan, the eastern half, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) in the south, it said.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Due to the effect of northeasterly winds, the weather would turn cool in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, with temperatures dropping by 3oC to 5oC, it forecast.
As northeasterly winds weaken on Wednesday, temperatures would rise again, and cloudy to sunny skies are expected to prevail in most areas of Taiwan, with scattered showers likely in the eastern half, the Hengchun Peninsula and the mountainous areas in the western half during the afternoon.
From Thursday to Saturday, similar conditions would remain, the agency said.
Photo provided by the Central Weather Administration
Meanwhile, citing data from the CWA, meteorologist Lin De-en (林得恩) wrote on Facebook that rainfall is expected to increase significantly and persist between Monday and Saturday next week, “likely due to the arrival of this year’s first plum rain front.”
The CWA also said that the first plum rain front is likely to arrive next week, but how it would affect the nation needs further observation.
May and June mark the start of the plum rain season, which is characterized by stationary frontal systems lingering near Taiwan proper, it said.
“During the seasonal transition from spring to summer each year, the cold high-pressure systems from the northern continent gradually weaken, while the Pacific high-pressure system, which dominates in summer, strengthens and begins to influence the region, causing the weather to become increasingly hot,” Lin said.
The cold and warm air masses then struggle against each other, forming a stationary front over areas such as the Yangtze River Basin in China, as well as over southern and central Japan, southern South Korea and Taiwan, Lin said, adding this stationary front is known as the “plum rain front.”
The plum rain front often develops organized mesoscale convective systems, he said.
“When these systems move from the sea onto Taiwan’s land, they often bring localized heavy rainfall, thunderstorms, strong gusts, or even hail and other severe weather phenomenon,” he said.
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