Taiwan's highest mountain Yushan (玉山) and other mountainous areas to its north were hit by snow early this morning due to the influence of a strong cold air mass.
According to the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency branch in Nantou County, Hehuanshan (合歡山) received about 6cm of snow in the morning.
Photo courtesy of the Taipingshan National Forest Recreation Area
Other nearby areas, including Wuling (武嶺), which is 3,275m above sea level, also saw snowfall.
Elsewhere, based on information provided by the Yushan Weather Station as of 8am, 1cm of snow had been recorded on the 3,952m Yushan, located on the border of Nantou, Chiayi and Kaohsiung, while a low of minus-2.6°C was seen at 5:29am.
Paiyun Lodge in Yushan National Park and Huagang in Nantou County's Renai Township (仁愛) at 2,400m also saw snow.
The Yushan National Park Headquarters said snow pellets began falling on Paiyun Lodge last night before turning into snow early today.
Snow was also observed in Lalashan (拉拉山) in Taoyuan's Fusing District (復興), the Lake Jiaming (嘉明湖) National Trail in Taitung County and Jianshi Township (尖石) in Hsinchu County.
Hsinchu County's Department of Personnel announced school closures for Hsin Kwang Elementary School in Jianshih Township today due to the snowfall there.
The cold air mass has also brought chilly weather, and the Central Weather Administration has issued low temperature alerts for several areas in northern and central Taiwan.
The affected regions include New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Hsinchu County, Miaoli County, Taichung and Yilan County, where minimum ground-level temperatures could drop below 10°C, or even below 6°C in some areas, forecasters said.
Miaoli County's Sanwan Township (三灣) recorded the nation's lowest temperature in a low-lying area on Tuesday morning at 8.9°C, followed by 9°C in New Taipei City's Shiding District (石碇) and 9.4°C in Hsinchu County's Guansi Township (關西).
The agency said daytime highs today are forecast to remain at about 16°C to 17°C in the north and 18°C to 21°C in central Taiwan and Taitung County.
Another cold air system is expected to move into Taiwan and send temperatures further down gradually at night, it said.
Also due to a southwest cloud system moving eastward, brief showers are forecast across mountainous areas and parts of Hualien and Taitung during the day.
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