The first cold wave of the winter is forecast to arrive on Thursday, with temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan likely dropping to 9°C, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday.
Bureau forecaster Hsu Chung-yi (徐仲毅) said the bureau had changed a previous forecast of a strong cold air mass to a cold wave.
The bureau defines a cold wave as temperatures in Taipei dropping to 10°C or below.
Although the cold wave is forecast to arrive on Thursday, Hsu said isolated showers would start in northern Taiwan tomorrow evening due to a frontal system, adding that the showers would continue through Thursday.
The rain is expected to ease by Friday, but the sky would remain overcast because of the cold wave, he said.
From Friday to Saturday, the lows in northern and northeastern Taiwan are forecast to dip to 10°C to 11°C, bureau data showed.
The lowest temperature is forecast to occur early Sunday morning, with the mercury likely falling to 9°C, Hsu said.
“The cold wave will continue to affect the nation until Tuesday next week. We want to remind people to keep themselves warm and farmers should take measures to protect their crops from damage caused by low temperatures,” he said.
The bureau said that fog could form on Thursday along the nation’s west coast, as well as in Kinmen and Matsu, lowering visibility in these regions, adding that people should be careful when driving.
Meanwhile, former bureau director-general Daniel Wu (吳德榮) criticized the forecasts presented by the Japan Weather Association about the cold wave, saying that people working for the association apparently lack experience in weather forecasting.
He said the association had in the past three days forecast that the cold wave scheduled to arrive on Thursday could cause temperatures in Taipei to drop to 5°C or 7°C.
It made adjustments yesterday morning, saying the mercury in the city would slide to 6°C, he said.
“Based on the frequency and range of the adjustment, the association should have generated its report purely through simulation on computers and lacks the judgement of experienced forecasters,” he said.
Wu said that the association forecast that the temperature in Taipei at 4am yesterday would be between 14°C and 17°C, but the lowest temperature recorded in Taipei was 17.5°C.
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