The first half of the plum rain season — a period of sustained rainfall from late spring to early summer — is likely to be drier than usual, the Central Weather Bureau said yesterday.
Despite precipitation expected to be lower than average next month, it would be close to normal in June, bureau Weather Forecast Center director Lu Kuo-chen (呂國臣) told a news conference.
Although there have been fewer downpours during the season in recent years, their intensity has increased, Lu said.
Photo: Lo Pei-de, Taipei Times
In addition to watching water use, Lu said the public should beware of heavy downpours, as well as thunder, lightning and strong gusts that often come with frontal rainfall during the plum rain season.
The first downpour of the season is forecast for next weekend, he said.
However, people in central and southern Taiwan might have to wait until the end of next month to early June for water shortages to ease, he added.
The situation would depend largely on southwesterly winds and the rain front at that time, he said.
As the three-year La Nina cycle ended in the spring, it is likely that the phenomenon could develop in the autumn or winter this year, Lu said.
Based on previous years, it is predicted that the nation could see normal to warmer temperatures during the rainy season this year, he said.
Over the three-day Workers’ Day holiday, which begins today, the nation can expect stable weather during the day today, before a strengthening northeasterly wind system and an approaching weather front combine to bring rainfall to northern, central and eastern Taiwan from this evening until tomorrow, bureau weather forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said.
Cooler weather can be expected tomorrow, with lows forecast to drop to 20°C in the north, and 20°C to 24°C in the east, before the mercury starts to climb on Monday.
The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday expressed “grave concerns” after Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) reiterated the city-state’s opposition to “Taiwanese independence” during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強). In Singapore on Saturday, Wong and Li discussed cross-strait developments, the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “Prime Minister Wong reiterated that Singapore has a clear and consistent ‘one China’ policy and is opposed to Taiwan independence,” it said. MOFA responded that it is an objective fact and a common understanding shared by many that the Republic of China (ROC) is an independent, sovereign nation, with world-leading
The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) has been investigating nine shell companies working with Prince Holding Group, and the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office is seeking further prosecution of alleged criminals, a source said yesterday. The nine companies and three Taiwanese nationals were named by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Oct. 14 as Specially Designated Nationals as a result of a US federal court indictment. Prince Holding founder Chen Zhi (陳志) has been charged with fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and overseeing Prince Holding’s suspected forced-labor camps in Cambodia, the indictment says. Intelligence shared between Taiwan,
COOLING OFF: Temperatures are expected to fall to lows of about 20°C on Sunday and possibly 18°C to 19°C next week, following a wave of northeasterly winds on Friday The Central Weather Administration (CWA) on Sunday forecast more rain and cooler temperatures for northern Taiwan this week, with the mercury dropping to lows of 18°C, as another wave of northeasterly winds sweeps across the country. The current northeasterly winds would continue to affect Taiwan through today, with precipitation peaking today, bringing increased rainfall to windward areas, CWA forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said. The weather system would weaken slightly tomorrow before another, stronger wave arrives on Friday, lasting into next week, Liu said. From yesterday to today, northern Taiwan can expect cool, wet weather, with lows of 22°C to 23°C in most areas,
RSS