People planning to travel during the 228 Memorial Day holiday might want to have backup indoor events planned, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said, as cold and rainy weather is forecast for the four-day holiday weekend.
A cold air mass that arrived in Taiwan last night and a wet weather system from south China are expected to cause cold and rainy weather during the holiday, which officially begins tomorrow and ends on Tuesday next week, the bureau said, adding that the weather would persist throughout the first three days of the holiday.
Northern and northeastern regions in particular are to feel the change in weather from today to Monday next week, the agency said, adding that temperatures in those regions could hit lows of 12°C to 14°C, while temperatures in coastal and open areas would be even lower.
Temperatures in southern and eastern regions are expected to reach lows of between 15°C and 17°C in that period, it added.
Chances of showers are forecast to be high nationwide from today to Monday as the wet weather system moves east, the bureau said, adding that the duration of rainfall would be longer in the north.
Daytime temperatures are expected to slightly rebound on Tuesday and Wednesday next week as the cold air mass weakens, the agency said, but added that early morning and nighttime temperatures would remain low.
Chances of showers in that period are to remain high in northern and northeastern regions, as well as Hualien County, Taitung County and mountainous areas in central and southern Taiwan, it said, adding that cloudy skies were forecast for the rest of the nation.
In mountainous regions at or above 3,000m, the chances of snow are expected to be high between today and Monday, as both the humidity and temperature would be conducive to snowfall, former CWB weather forecast center director Daniel Wu (吳德榮) said.
However, rainfall during the holiday is not expected to help increase water reserves at Taoyuan’s Shihmen Reservoir (石門水庫), he said.
“Frontal systems in spring tend to move fast. Even though they might occasionally be accompanied by thundershower cells, the cumulative rainfall from a single frontal system will not ameliorate the nation’s water shortage problem. Such respite would only manifest with the arrival of multiple frontal systems,” Wu said. “People counting on rainfall over the long holiday weekend to address the water shortage will surely be disappointed.”
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