The Central Weather Administration (CWA) recorded a temperature of minus-5.7°C at its weather monitoring station on Yushan (Jade Mountain, 玉山), the nation’s highest mountain, early yesterday morning and observed hard rime there.
The mountain weather station had experienced poor visibility due to clouds and fog until Saturday night after a continental cold air mass arrived. The sky later turned clear with the mercury dropping to a low of minus-5.7°C early yesterday morning before climbing back up, the CWA said.
At 8am, the sky over the Yushan weather station was clear, and the temperature was recorded at minus-0.2°C, accompanied by hard rime, the CWA said.
Photo courtesy of the Yushan National Park Headquarters
With the cold air mass sweeping over Taiwan, the CWA has warned that roads at high elevations — above 3,000 meters — could be icy and that there would be frost and rime on mountains more than 3,000 meters high.
According to the agency’s Web site, frost and rime are ice crystals that look similar, but their formation process is different. Frost is formed by condensation of water vapor, while rime is formed from small, supercooled water droplets that freeze on contact with a cold surface.
The continental cold air mass brought temperatures below 10°C to parts of Taiwan yesterday morning, with the lowest recorded at 7.9°C in Nantou County’s Jhongliao Township (中寮) at 6:37am, the CWA said.
UNREASONABLE SURVEILLANCE: A camera targeted on an road by a neighbor captured a man’s habitual unsignaled turn into home, netting him dozens of tickets The Taichung High Administrative Court has canceled all 45 tickets given to a man for failing to use a turn signal while driving, as it considered long-term surveillance of his privacy more problematic than the traffic violations. The man, surnamed Tseng (曾), lives in Changhua County and was reported 45 times within a month for failing to signal while driving when he turned into the alley where his residence is. The reports were filed by his neighbor, who set up security cameras that constantly monitored not only the alley but also the door and yard of Tseng’s house. The surveillance occurred from July
A Japan Self-Defense Forces vessel entered the Taiwan Strait yesterday, Japanese media reported. After passing through the Taiwan Strait, the Ikazuchi was to proceed to the South China Sea to take part in a joint military exercise with the US and the Philippines, the reports said. Japan Self-Defense Force vessels were first reported to have passed through the strait in September, 2024, with two further transits taking place in February and June last year, the Asahi Shimbun reported. Yesterday’s transit also marked the first time since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office that a Japanese warship has been sent through the Taiwan
‘SAME OLD TRICK’: Even if Beijing resumes individual travel to Taiwan, it would only benefit Chinese tourism companies, the Economic Democracy Union convener said China’s 10 new “incentives” are “sugar-coated poison,” an official said yesterday, adding that Taiwanese businesses see them clearly for what they are, but that Beijing would inevitably find some local collaborators to try to drums up support. The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, made the remark ahead of a news conference the General Chamber of Commerce is to hold today. The event, titled “Industry Perspectives on China’s Recent Pro-Taiwan Policies,” is expected to include representatives from industry associations — such as those in travel, hotels, food and agriculture — to request the government cooperate with China’s new measures, people familiar with
ANOTHER OPTION: The 13-year-old, whose residency status was revoked for holding a Chinese passport, could still apply for residency on humanitarian grounds, the government said The Executive Yuan has rejected an appeal from a 13-year-old Chinese student surnamed Lu (陸), whose permanent residency was revoked after immigration officers discovered he held a Chinese passport. Lu in December 2023 applied to settle in Taiwan to be with his mother, surnamed Lin (林), who is a Taiwan resident, an appeal decision released this month by the Executive Yuan showed. Lin settled in Taiwan after marrying a Taiwanese man in 2003, but the two divorced in 2011, and after marrying a Chinese man, she had Lu, the Executive Yuan’s appeals committee said. Lu’s application was approved in December 2024, and in