The Central Weather Bureau’s heat advisory system being launched today is to provide alerts at 5pm if the next day’s temperature is forecast to reach 36°C or higher.
The system uses a three-color code.
A yellow alert would be issued if the temperature is forecast to reach or exceed 36°C the next day, while an orange alert would signal temperatures of 36°C to 38°C for three consecutive days, the bureau said.
A red alert, the highest level, would be issued if the temperature is forecast to exceed 38°C for three consecutive days, it said.
The alerts would be posted on the bureau’s Web site and mobile app.
As the nation remains under the influence of a low-pressure system, a stationary front and the southeast monsoon, which has lowered temperatures nationwide, the system is not expected to be needed until after Tuesday next week, it said.
The agency stipulated standards for the alert system mainly in response to requests for such information so people can take precautions against excessively high heat, bureau specialist Huang Treng-shi (黃椿喜) said, adding that it consulted other government agencies, as well as local government officials, in setting the guidelines.
The Health Promotion Administration and the Centers for Disease Control have also warned of health hazards caused by high heat and humidity, including heat strokes and epidemic diseases such as dengue fever.
In other developments, a tropical depression in the south of the Taiwan Strait had, as of press time last night, not turned into a tropical storm, the bureau said, but added that it could develop into one by morning.
The storm would be named Gaemi, which means ants in Korean, it said.
Residents of central and southern Taiwan should beware possible heavy to extremely heavy rainfall from the storm, the bureau said, adding that chances of rain are also high in northern and eastern areas, although rainfall would not be as heavy.
Sea and land alerts are to be issued simultaneously for the storm once it has formed, it said.
Tropical Storm Nari is not a threat to Taiwan, based on its positioning and trajectory, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Nari has strengthened from a tropical depression that was positioned south of Japan, it said. The eye of the storm is about 2,100km east of Taipei, with a north-northeast trajectory moving toward the eastern seaboard of Japan, CWA data showed. Based on its current path, the storm would not affect Taiwan, the agency said.
The Taipei Department of Health’s latest inspection of fresh fruit and vegetables sold in local markets revealed a 25 percent failure rate, with most contraventions involving excessive pesticide residues, while two durians were also found to contain heavy metal cadmium at levels exceeding safety limits. Health Food and Drug Division Director Lin Kuan-chen (林冠蓁) yesterday said the agency routinely conducts inspections of fresh produce sold at traditional markets, supermarkets, hypermarkets, retail outlets and restaurants, testing for pesticide residues and other harmful substances. In its most recent inspection, conducted in May, the department randomly collected 52 samples from various locations, with testing showing
The cosponsors of a new US sanctions package targeting Russia on Thursday briefed European allies and Ukraine on the legislation and said the legislation would also have a deterrent effect on China and curb its ambitions regarding Taiwan. The bill backed by US senators Lindsey Graham and Richard Blumenthal calls for a 500 percent tariff on goods imported from countries that buy Russian oil, gas, uranium and other exports — targeting nations such as China and India, which account for about 70 percent of Russia’s energy trade, the bankroll of much of its war effort. Graham and Blumenthal told The Associated Press
INTEL: China’s ships are mapping strategic ocean floors, including near Guam, which could aid undersea cable targeting and have military applications, a report said China’s oceanographic survey and research ships are collecting data in the Indo-Pacific region — possibly to aid submarine navigation, detect or map undersea cables, and lay naval mines — activities that could have military applications in a conflict with Taiwan or the US, a New York Times report said. The article, titled “China Surveys Seabeds Where Naval Rivals May One Day Clash,” was written by Chris Buckley and published on Thursday. Starboard Maritime Intelligence data revealed that Chinese research ships last year repeatedly scanned the ocean floor east of Taiwan’s maritime border, and about 400km east and west of Guam; “waters that
RSS