Western Taiwan saw the least rainfall this winter since 1951, with five weather stations across the nation recording the least cumulative rainfall since records began, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said today.
The public is urged to conserve water, as rainfall during the spring — which is typically a drier season — is unlikely to alleviate drought conditions, Weather Forecast Center Director Huang Chun-hsi (黃椿喜) said.
The data were collected from December until Sunday, with rainfall mostly concentrated in northern and eastern Taiwan, he said.
Photo: Huang Yi-ching, Taipei Times
Five monitoring stations in Taipei, Hsinchu, Taichung, Chiayi County and the Pengjia Islet (彭佳嶼) off Keelung logged the least rainfall for the season since records began, he said.
In the west, stations in Taipei, Hsinchu, Taichung, Chiayi, Tainan and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) recorded the least seasonal rainfall since 1951, he said.
The entire main island saw 158.4mm of rain this winter, the fifth-lowest volume since 1951, and only about 60 percent of the climate average of 260.6mm, he said.
The season saw just 24.2 days of rain, lower than the average of 32.6 and marking the fourth fewest since 1951, he added.
Temperatures alternated between cold and warm periods, except in the first half of last month, when two strong continental cold air masses and one cold surge affected Taiwan for an extended period, he said.
However, northern weather systems were relatively weak at times, resulting in overall warmer conditions than usual, he added.
Looking forward to spring, as the La Nina continues to weaken, conditions are expected to gradually return to normal, he said.
Temperatures from next month to May are forecast to be normal or above normal, while rainfall is expected to be below normal to near normal, Huang said.
Cold air masses could still move south to affect Taiwan next month, with dense fog likely over the next two months in western Taiwan, as well as the outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang counties, he added.
The Grand Hotel Taipei on Saturday confirmed that its information system had been illegally accessed and expressed its deepest apologies for the concern it has caused its customers, adding that the issue is being investigated by the Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau. The hotel said that on Tuesday last week, it had discovered an external illegal intrusion into its information system. An initial digital forensic investigation confirmed that parts of the system had been accessed, it said, adding that the possibility that some customer data were stolen and leaked could not be ruled out. The actual scope and content of the affected data
DO THEY BITE IT? Cats have better memories than people might think, but their motivation is based entirely around the chance of getting fed Cats can remember the identity of the people who fed them the day before, Taipei-based veterinarians said on Friday, debunking a popular myth that cats have a short memory. If a stray does not recognize the person who fed them the previous day, it is likely because they are not carrying food and the cat has no reason to recognize them, said Wu Chou Animal Hospital head Chen Chen-huan (陳震寰). “When cats come to a human bearing food, it is coming for the food, not the person,” he said. “The food is the key.” Since the cat’s attention is on the food, it
A New York-based NGO has launched a global initiative to rename the nation’s overseas missions, most of which operate under the name "Taipei," to "Taiwan Representative Office (TRO)," according to a news release. Ming Chiang (江明信), CEO of Hello Taiwan, announced the campaign at a news conference in Berlin on Monday, coinciding with the World Forum held from Monday through Wednesday, the institution stated in the release. Speaking at the event, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Huang Jie (黃捷) said she believed this renaming campaign would enable the international community to see Taiwan
TOO DANGEROUS: The families agreed to suspend crewed recovery efforts that could put rescuers in danger from volcanic gases and unstable terrain The bodies of two Taiwanese tourists and a Japanese pilot have been located inside a volcanic crater, Japanese authorities said yesterday, nearly a month after a sightseeing helicopter crashed during a flight over southwestern Japan. Drone footage taken at the site showed three bodies near the wreckage of the aircraft inside a crater on Mount Aso in Kumamoto Prefecture, police and fire officials said. The helicopter went missing on Jan. 20 and was later found on a steep slope inside the Nakadake No. 1 Crater, about 50m below the rim. Authorities said that conditions at the site made survival highly unlikely, and ruled
RSS