Western Taiwan saw the least rainfall this winter since 1951, with five weather stations across the nation recording the lowest cumulative rainfall since records began, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday.
The public is urged to conserve water, as rainfall during the spring — which is typically a drier season — is unlikely to alleviate drought conditions, Weather Forecast Center Director Huang Chun-hsi (黃椿喜) said.
The data were collected from December until Sunday, with rainfall mostly concentrated in northern and eastern Taiwan, he said.
Photo: Huang Yi-ching, Taipei Times
Five monitoring stations in Taipei, Hsinchu, Taichung, Chiayi County and Pengjia Islet (彭佳嶼) off Keelung logged the least rainfall for the season since records began, he said.
In the west, stations in Taipei, Hsinchu County, Taichung, Chiayi County, Tainan and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) recorded the least seasonal rainfall since 1951, he said.
Taiwan proper saw 158.4mm of rain this winter, the fifth-lowest volume since 1951, and only about 60 percent of the average of 260.6mm, he said.
The season saw just 24.2 days of rain, lower than the average of 32.6 and marking the fourth-fewest since 1951, he added.
Temperatures alternated between cold and warm periods, except in the first half of last month, when two strong continental cold air masses and one cold surge affected Taiwan for an extended period, he said.
However, northern weather systems were relatively weak at times, resulting in overall warmer conditions than usual, Huang added.
As La Nina continues to weaken, conditions during spring are expected to gradually return to normal, he said.
Temperatures from next month to May are forecast to be normal or above normal, while rainfall is expected to be below normal to near normal, Huang said.
Cold air masses could still move south and affect Taiwan next month, with dense fog likely over the next two months in western Taiwan, as well as outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang counties, he added.
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