The current water shortage is expected to worsen in the next few months, with the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) yesterday forecasting a colder, dryer winter than normal.
With winter starting next week, the bureau at a media briefing outlined the expected conditions through February and reviewed autumn’s significant weather events.
Weather Forecast Center director Lu Kuo-cheng (呂國臣) said that autumn this year had three major characteristics:
Photo: Hsiao Yu-hsin, Taipei Times
First, 13 tropical storms and typhoons formed from September to this month, up from 11 in the same period last year, Lu said.
Apart from Atsani, for which sea and land alerts were issued in Taiwan, the tropical storms and typhoons this autumn generally moved toward Japan or South Korea, or moved over the South China Sea, he said.
Second, as of Monday, the average temperature for autumn has been 25.9°C, 1.02°C higher than average, he said, adding that the figure would be the third-highest average for the whole season, behind 26.27°C in 2017 and 26.04°C in 2016.
Third, average rainfall was 354.8mm, 271.7mm less than average, Lu said.
Rainfall fell by more than 40 percent compared with autumn last year, he said.
Rain came from frontal systems, clouds in the circumfluence of typhoons or tropical storms, and the northeast monsoon, he said.
Most of the rain fell in Taiwan’s northeast, which had significantly more rainfall than the west coast, he said.
The bureau’s weather observation station near Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) in Nantou County recorded 86mm, the lowest rainfall reading since the station was established in 1941, Lu said.
The average in Chiayi County’s Alishan Township (阿里山) was the fifth-lowest since the station there was established, while stations in Taipei, New Taipei City’s Tamsui District (淡水), Hsinchu, Chiayi City, Taichung’s Wuci District (梧棲) and Taitung’s Chengkung Township (成功) are also reporting low autumn rainfall, which might make top 10 lists for dry years at each station, he said.
“The only months this year that had higher than average rainfall were May and August, while June, July and September had significantly less than average,” he said. “The average rainfall from June to this month was 902.5mm, or about 60 percent of the same period last year and the lowest since 1993.”
The rainy season in Taiwan ended earlier than usual this year, with no tropical storm or typhoons approaching the nation in July, Lu said.
Taiwan had similar conditions in 2014, when no tropical storm or typhoon made landfall in August.
Average rainfall from next month to February is expected to be from slightly below average to normal, he said.
Due to La Nina effect, the average temperature in the three months would be lower than normal, Lu said.
Next month, the average temperature would be warmer than usual, while January would be colder than normal, he said, adding that no forecast was available for February.
Cold waves are expected relatively frequently this winter, as La Nina tends to facilitate cold air from the north, Lu said.
Taiwan can expect about 6.6 days that are affected by cold waves this winter, he said.
La Nina is expected to gradually ease as spring arrives, he said.
TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT: A US Air Force KC-135 tanker came less than 1,000 feet of an EVA plane and was warned off by a Taipei air traffic controller, a report said A US aerial refueling aircraft came very close to an EVA Airways jet in the airspace over southern Taiwan, a military aviation news Web site said. A report published by Alert 5 on Tuesday said that automatic dependent surveillance–broadcast (ADS-B) data captured by planfinder.net on Wednesday last week showed a US Air Force KC-135 tanker “coming less than 1,000 feet [305m] vertically with EVA Air flight BR225 as both aircraft crossed path south of Taiwan” that morning. The report included an audio recording of a female controller from the Taipei air traffic control center telling the unidentified aircraft that it was
A US aircraft carrier group led by the USS Theodore Roosevelt has entered the South China Sea to promote “freedom of the seas,” the US military said yesterday, as tensions between China and Taiwan raise concerns in Washington. US Indo-Pacific Command said in a statement that the strike group entered the South China Sea on Saturday, the same day Taiwan reported a large incursion of Chinese bombers and fighter jets into its air defense identification zone near the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). The US military said the carrier strike group was in the South China Sea, a large part of which
STRATEGIC MISTAKE: Beijing’s deployment of aircraft near Taiwan proves the ‘China threat theory’ that sees it attempting to destabilize the region, an analyst said China on Saturday and yesterday sent a record number of military aircraft into the nation’s air defense identification zone (ADIZ), in what analysts said was an attempt to flex its military might for US President Joe Biden. Thirteen Chinese warplanes flew into Taiwan’s southwestern ADIZ on Saturday and 15 entered yesterday, the highest number observed in a single day this year, the Ministry of National Defense said. On Saturday, eight Xian H-6K bombers, four Shenyang J-16 fighters and a Y-8 anti-submarine aircraft, entered the ADIZ, while yesterday there were two Y-8s, two Su-30s, four J-16s, six J-10 fighters and a Y-8 reconnaissance
DISPOSING MYTHS: A new constitution would better reflect reality, as the current one was drafted ‘in and for China,’ without the consent of Taiwanese, advocates said Independence advocates yesterday launched the Taiwan New Constitution Alliance to promote drafting a new, localized constitution. “This is a historic moment for Taiwan. Drafting a new constitution is the most important task Taiwanese face,” veteran independence advocate Koo Kwang-ming (辜寬敏) said at the inaugural event in Taipei. “Although the Democratic Progressive Party is in power, its authority is based on the Republic of China [ROC] Constitution, which has no connection to Taiwan,” said the 95-year-old Koo, a former presidential adviser. “The historic task of drafting a new constitution depends on efforts by all Taiwanese,” Koo said. “A constitution for a sovereign, independent Taiwan
RSS