New taipei: The Central Weather Administration (CWA) recorded a temperature of 8.4 degrees Celsius in Shiding District, New Taipei, early Wednesday morning, marking the lowest temperature on Taiwan proper. The CWA has issued cold surge advisories for most parts of Taiwan, cautioning that lows could drop below 10 degrees Celsius through Wednesday night, due to a strong continental cold air mass and radiational cooling affecting the country.

According to Focus Taiwan, an “orange” alert has been issued for Kinmen County, New Taipei, Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu County, and Yilan County. This alert indicates sustained temperatures around or below 10 degrees Celsius, with some areas potentially experiencing temperatures below 6 degrees. A “yellow” alert, warning of minimum temperatures below 10 degrees, has been issued for Keelung City, Hsinchu City, Miaoli County, Taichung, Changhua County, Nantou County, Yunlin County, Chiayi City, Chiayi County, Tainan, and Kaohsiung.

As of 9:26 a.m. Wednesday, CWA data indicated the three lowest temperatures in low-elevation areas across Taiwan were 5.8 degrees in Kinmen’s Jincheng Township, 6.8 degrees in Matsu’s Nangan Township, and 7.2 degrees in Kinmen’s Lieyu Township. Kinmen and Matsu are two Taiwan-controlled island groups.

The weather agency attributed the cold conditions to a strong continental cold air mass combined with radiational cooling, a process in which heat is released from the ground into the atmosphere. Independent meteorologist Wu Der-rong noted, citing the latest model simulations, that strong cold air would blanket Taiwan from Thursday through Saturday morning. While the intensity of the cold air is comparable to the previous cold spell, clear and stable weather conditions are expected to enhance the effects of radiational cooling. Wu added that although temperatures at elevations above 2,000 meters could still fall below freezing, snowfall is unlikely.