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.
A year-long renovation of Taipei’s Bangka Park (艋舺公園) began yesterday, as city workers fenced off the site and cleared out belongings left by homeless residents who had been living there. Despite protests from displaced residents, a city official defended the government’s relocation efforts, saying transitional housing has been offered. The renovation of the park in Taipei’s Wanhua District (萬華), near Longshan Temple (龍山寺), began at 9am yesterday, as about 20 homeless people packed their belongings and left after being asked to move by city personnel. Among them was a 90-year-old woman surnamed Wang (王), who last week said that she had no plans
China might accelerate its strategic actions toward Taiwan, the South China Sea and across the first island chain, after the US officially entered a military conflict with Iran, as Beijing would perceive Washington as incapable of fighting a two-front war, a military expert said yesterday. The US’ ongoing conflict with Iran is not merely an act of retaliation or a “delaying tactic,” but a strategic military campaign aimed at dismantling Tehran’s nuclear capabilities and reshaping the regional order in the Middle East, said National Defense University distinguished adjunct lecturer Holmes Liao (廖宏祥), former McDonnell Douglas Aerospace representative in Taiwan. If
TO BE APPEALED: The environment ministry said coal reduction goals had to be reached within two months, which was against the principle of legitimate expectation The Taipei High Administrative Court on Thursday ruled in favor of the Taichung Environmental Protection Bureau in its administrative litigation against the Ministry of Environment for the rescission of a NT$18 million fine (US$609,570) imposed by the bureau on the Taichung Power Plant in 2019 for alleged excess coal power generation. The bureau in November 2019 revised what it said was a “slip of the pen” in the text of the operating permit granted to the plant — which is run by Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) — in October 2017. The permit originally read: “reduce coal use by 40 percent from Jan.
‘SPEY’ REACTION: Beijing said its Eastern Theater Command ‘organized troops to monitor and guard the entire process’ of a Taiwan Strait transit China sent 74 warplanes toward Taiwan between late Thursday and early yesterday, 61 of which crossed the median line in the Taiwan Strait. It was not clear why so many planes were scrambled, said the Ministry of National Defense, which tabulated the flights. The aircraft were sent in two separate tranches, the ministry said. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday “confirmed and welcomed” a transit by the British Royal Navy’s HMS Spey, a River-class offshore patrol vessel, through the Taiwan Strait a day earlier. The ship’s transit “once again [reaffirmed the Strait’s] status as international waters,” the foreign ministry said. “Such transits by
RSS