This summer has been the hottest ever recorded in Taiwan, with several monitoring stations having reported record temperatures, the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) said yesterday.
This summer arrived earlier and has been warmer than past summers, with the average temperature from June to Wednesday reaching a record 29.54°C, Weather Forecast Center Director Lu Kuo-chen (呂國臣) said.
Previous records were 29.41°C from July to September last year, 29.38°C from July to September 2014, 29.16°C from June to August 2016 and 28.99°C from June to August 2017, he said.
Photo: CNA
Several weather monitoring stations have recorded the highest temperatures ever, including 40.2°C in Taitung County’s Dawu Township (大武), 39.7°C in Taipei and 23.8°C at Yushan National Park, where the bureau’s station is at an altitude of 3,858m.
In Taipei, there were 72 days in June and last month when temperatures exceeded 35°C, 55 days when temperatures exceeded 36°C, 30 days when temperatures exceeded 37°C, 13 days when temperatures exceeded 38°C, and two days when temperatures exceeded 39°C, bureau data showed.
Average rainfall this summer dropped 50 percent compared with past summers, although this month has had greater rainfall, Lu said.
The first eight months of this year has had the least rainfall since 1993, he added, urging people to conserve water.
An unusually strong subtropical high-pressure system caused the plum rain season to end earlier than usual, the bureau said.
This month, six typhoons have formed in the Pacific Ocean — more than the monthly average of 5.6 — but their effect on Taiwan was limited, the bureau said, adding that they were weaker because they formed near land.
Lu forecast that rainfall would increase from next month to October, saying that warmer sea temperatures might produce more typhoons than normal this fall and winter.
In related news, the bureau said that Tropical Storm Maysak, which formed in waters east of the Philippines yesterday, is not likely to have a major effect on Taiwan, although it is likely to bring rain to northern Taiwan on Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning.
Additional reporting by CNA
Kenting National Park service technician Yang Jien-fon (楊政峰) won a silver award in World Grand Prix Photography Awards Spring Season for his photograph of two male rat snakes intertwined in combat. Yang’s colleagues at Kenting National Park said he is a master of nature photography who has been held back by his job in civil service. The awards accept entries in all four seasons across six categories: architectural and urban photography, black-and-white and fine art photography, commercial and fashion photography, documentary and people photography, nature and experimental photography, and mobile photography. Awards are ranked according to scores and divided into platinum, gold and
More than half of the bamboo vipers captured in Tainan in the past few years were found in the city’s Sinhua District (新化), while other districts had smaller catches or none at all. Every year, Tainan captures about 6,000 snakes which have made their way into people’s homes. Of the six major venomous snakes in Taiwan, the cobra, the many-banded krait, the brown-spotted pit viper and the bamboo viper are the most frequently captured. The high concentration of bamboo vipers captured in Sinhua District is puzzling. Tainan Agriculture Bureau Forestry and Nature Conservation Division head Chu Chien-ming (朱健明) earlier this week said that the
The first bluefin tuna of the season, brought to shore in Pingtung County and weighing 190kg, was yesterday auctioned for NT$10,600 (US$333.5) per kilogram, setting a record high for the local market. The auction was held at the fish market in Donggang Fishing Harbor, where the Siaoliouciou Island-registered fishing vessel Fu Yu Ching No. 2 delivered the “Pingtung First Tuna” it had caught for bidding. Bidding was intense, and the tuna was ultimately jointly purchased by a local restaurant and a local company for NT$10,600 per kilogram — NT$300 ,more than last year — for a total of NT$2.014 million. The 67-year-old skipper
BREACH OF CONTRACT: The bus operators would seek compensation and have demanded that the manufacturer replace the chips with ones that meet regulations Two bus operators found to be using buses with China-made chips are to demand that the original manufacturers replace the systems and provide compensation for breach of contract, the Veterans Affairs Council said yesterday. Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) yesterday said that Da Nan Bus Co and Shin-Shin Bus Co Ltd have fielded a total of 82 buses that are using Chinese chips. The bus models were made by Tron-E, while the systems provider was CYE Electronics, Lin said. Lin alleged that the buses were using chips manufactured by Huawei subsidiary HiSilicon Co, which presents a national security risk if the
RSS