As a continental cold air mass forecast to linger until Tuesday, temperatures are expected to fall to below 10 degrees Celsius in northern and northeastern Taiwan and the outlying county of Kinmen late Sunday through Monday morning, according to the Central Weather Bureau (CWB).
The CWB issued cold surge advisories on Sunday for Kinmen, Keelung, Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu City and County, and Miaoli County, warning temperatures in those regions could fall to below 10 degrees late in the day through Monday morning.
The arrival of the cold front together with a wet weather system from southern China is expected to bring rainfall and a colder weather to the northern and northeastern parts of Taiwan on Sunday, the CWB said.
Areas north of Taoyuan, coastal areas in the north near Keelung, Yilan in the northeast, and mountainous areas in Greater Taipei could see heavy rain, while sporadic showers are forecast in other areas, according to data posted on the CWB’s website.
The mercury in areas north of Tainan and northeastern Taiwan fell to 13-15 degrees early Sunday morning and even lower in coastal areas and low-lying areas near mountains, while other regions registered lows of 16-17 degrees, according to the CWB.
On Sunday, the lowest temperature in low-lying areas of Taiwan was 9.5 degrees, recorded in Taiping in New Taipei’s Linkou District at 9 a.m.
The lowest temperature in Taoyuan was 11.6 degrees Celsius, recorded in Yangmei, according to the CWB data.
The mercury would fall further after sunset on Sunday, with 12-13 degrees forecast for northern and northeastern Taiwan, 14-15 degrees for the remainder of the country, according to the CWB forecast.
Amid the cold and wet weather, snow pellets fell on Hehuanshan in the central county of Nantou around 8:50 a.m. Sunday and lasted for five minutes, according to the CWB.
The coldest of the cold spell would likely occur between late-night Sunday and early morning Monday, with the mercury expected to drop to around 10 degrees in low lying areas, according to Wu Der-rong (???), a meteorologist and adjunct associate professor of atmospheric sciences at National Central University.
There is a chance of snow on mountains at elevations of over 3,000 meters, Wu said.
From Tuesday to Wednesday, as the cold air mass weakens, temperatures across Taiwan will rise before another cold air wave is expected to arrive on Dec. 31, according to Wu.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel