Snow fell on Taiwan's tallest mountain, Yushan (玉山) in Nantou County, amid freezing temperatures early this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said.
As of 6am, 0.5cm of snow had accumulated at the weather station on the highest peak of the mountain, on the northern ridge, at an elevation of 3,952m, the CWA said.
Photo courtesy of the Central Weather Administration
It estimated that the snow had fallen on Yushan, also known as Jade Mountain, between midnight and 1am, after which the temperature there dipped to a low of minus-3.1°C at about 2am.
On Hehuanshan (合歡山), also in Nantou County, the heaviest snowfall this winter season was recorded, the Highway Bureau said.
Rime ice and snow pellets fell intermittently from about 8pm yesterday to early this morning, covering the mountain slopes and roads, it said.
At Songxue Lodge, which stands 3,150m above sea level on Hehuanshan, 0.5cm of snow had accumulated as of this morning, the bureau said.
Visitors have been flocking to Wuling on Hehuanshan since early this morning, prompting the bureau to restrict travel between the 29km mark and 36.6km mark on Provincial Route No. 14A to vehicles equipped with snow chains.
The Cuifeng-Songxue Lodge section on that route was closed yesterday night as a precaution due to icy roads, but was reopened at 7am to limited traffic.
In non-mountainous areas, the lowest temperatures recorded early Monday were 11.2°C and 11.3°C in Taoyuan's Dasi District (大溪) and New Taipei City's Shihding District (石碇) respectively, the CWA said.
It has forecast that a dry southbound continental cold air mass approaching Taiwan would drive down temperatures nationwide tonight, but the skies in most parts of the country are to be sunny to cloudy.
Daytime highs of 18°C to 20°C can be expected today in northern and eastern Taiwan, 21°C to 25°C in central and southern areas, and 15°C to 18°C in the outlying islands, the CWA said.
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