Torrential Rain Advisory Issued for Southeastern Taiwan as Low-Pressure Front Persists

Taipei: The Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued a torrential rain advisory for Taitung County and an extremely heavy rain alert for Hualien County, as a low-pressure front continues to bring sudden downpours to southeastern and eastern Taiwan.

According to Focus Taiwan, additional heavy rain advisories were issued for Yilan County in the northeast; Pingtung County, the Hengchun Peninsula, Orchid Island, and Green Island in the south; and the outlying Matsu Islands. The CWA defines torrential rain as more than 350 mm in 24 hours or 200 mm in three hours. Extremely heavy rain is defined as over 200 mm in 24 hours or 100 mm in three hours, while heavy rain refers to more than 80 mm in 24 hours or more than 40 mm in an hour.

The agency warned of thundershowers and strong winds in Taitung and Hualien, urging the public to watch for flooding and possible landslides in mountainous areas. As of 8 a.m., Dawu Township in Taitung recorded the highest rainfall in Taiwan at 264.5 mm, followed by 89 mm in Pingtung's Shizi Township and 67 mm in Yilan's Toucheng Township.

As of 2 a.m. Monday, the eye of Severe Tropical Storm Wipha, which affected Macau and Hong Kong over the weekend, was about 1,020 kilometers west of Eluanbi, Taiwan's southernmost point, and continued to bring heavy rain to Taiwan. The CWA noted daytime temperatures around Taiwan are expected to range between 27 and 31 degrees Celsius on Monday, before falling to 25 to 27 degrees at night.

Independent meteorologist Wu Der-rong indicated that unstable weather is expected to continue through Wednesday, with heavy rain anticipated in eastern Taiwan and localized afternoon showers and thunderstorms in western mountainous areas. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Environment stated that the air quality around Taiwan will be mostly "fair" to "good" on Monday.