WEATHER
Snow falls on Yushan
Snow fell on Taiwan’s tallest mountain, Yushan (Jade Mountain, 玉山), in Nantou County, amid freezing temperatures early yesterday morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 6am, 5mm 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. It estimated that the snow had fallen on Yushan 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), the heaviest snowfall of this winter season was recorded, the Highway Bureau said. Rime ice and snow pellets fell intermittently from about 8pm on Sunday to early yesterday morning, it said.
Photo courtesy of Huang Tu-feng
HEALTH
Train riders warned
High-speed rail passengers who traveled between Kaohsiung and Taichung late last month in the same train cars with a man diagnosed with measles should contact the Kaohsiung Department of Health, the department said yesterday. It said the Centers for Disease Controls (CDC) on Friday confirmed that the man who traveled on the high-speed rail late last month had been infected with measles. The man traveled from Zuoying to Taichung on Dec. 28 in Car 2 of train No. 160 and went from Taichung to Zuoying on Tuesday last week in Car 4 of train No. 153, it said. The department urged those who traveled in the same cars as the man to contact it at (07)-723-0250 or call the CDC toll-free hotline 1922 as quickly as possible given that measles is highly contagious four days before or after its onset. People who have not been vaccinated or are not immune could be infected with the measles virus within two hours if they were in an enclosed space with an infected person, regardless of duration of exposure, it added.
GUATEMALA
Ambassador visits Lai
Newly appointed Guatemalan Ambassador to Taiwan Luis Raul Estevez Lopez yesterday pledged to enhance 90 years of diplomatic relations, as he presented his credentials to President William Lai (賴清德). Estevez said Taiwan and Guatemala’s long-term friendship is based on shared values of peace-loving, fighting for democracy, a mutually beneficial partnership and respect for international laws. Lai praised Estevez as the perfect man for the position, given the veteran diplomat’s 32 years of experience with Guatemala’s foreign service. Estevez previously served as Guatemala’s representative to the Organization of American States, and to the International Court of Justice, and his appointment as ambassador reflected the high priority Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo has given to his country’s ties with Taiwan, Lai said.
A strong continental cold air mass and abundant moisture bringing snow to mountains 3,000m and higher over the past few days are a reminder that more than 60 years ago Taiwan had an outdoor ski resort that gradually disappeared in part due to climate change. On Oct. 24, 2021, the National Development Council posted a series of photographs on Facebook recounting the days when Taiwan had a ski resort on Hehuanshan (合歡山) in Nantou County. More than 60 years ago, when developing a branch of the Central Cross-Island Highway, the government discovered that Hehuanshan, with an elevation of more than 3,100m,
Death row inmate Huang Lin-kai (黃麟凱), who was convicted for the double murder of his former girlfriend and her mother, is to be executed at the Taipei Detention Center tonight, the Ministry of Justice announced. Huang, who was a military conscript at the time, was convicted for the rape and murder of his ex-girlfriend, surnamed Wang (王), and the murder of her mother, after breaking into their home on Oct. 1, 2013. Prosecutors cited anger over the breakup and a dispute about money as the motives behind the double homicide. This is the first time that Minister of Justice Cheng Ming-chien (鄭銘謙) has
TRANSPORT CONVENIENCE: The new ticket gates would accept a variety of mobile payment methods, and buses would be installed with QR code readers for ease of use New ticketing gates for the Taipei metro system are expected to begin service in October, allowing users to swipe with cellphones and select credit cards partnered with Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC), the company said on Tuesday. TRTC said its gates in use are experiencing difficulty due to their age, as they were first installed in 2007. Maintenance is increasingly expensive and challenging as the manufacturing of components is halted or becoming harder to find, the company said. Currently, the gates only accept EasyCard, iPass and electronic icash tickets, or one-time-use tickets purchased at kiosks, the company said. Since 2023, the company said it
Ferry operators are planning to provide a total of 1,429 journeys between Taiwan proper and its offshore islands to meet increased travel demand during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, the Maritime and Port Bureau said yesterday. The available number of ferry journeys on eight routes from Saturday next week to Feb. 2 is expected to meet a maximum transport capacity of 289,414 passengers, the bureau said in a news release. Meanwhile, a total of 396 journeys on the "small three links," which are direct ferries connecting Taiwan's Kinmen and Lienchiang counties with China's Fujian Province, are also being planned to accommodate
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