Taipei: Central and southern Taiwan are bracing for increasingly heavy rainfall from Sunday night through Friday, as a low-pressure system and southwesterly winds converge over the region.
According to Focus Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecaster Liu Pei-teng reported that Tropical Storm Co-May, which had weakened into a low-pressure system on Saturday, has regained strength as a tropical depression (TD 11) near the Ryukyu Islands, driven by favorable environmental conditions.
The tropical depression is predicted to persist for two to three days, moving west-northwest by Monday afternoon and potentially reaching Zhejiang via the East China Sea on Tuesday. While there is a minor chance of it developing into a typhoon, Liu assured that it would not directly impact Taiwan. Nevertheless, the system is expected to induce unstable weather across the island, particularly in the south, where southwesterly winds are channeling moisture that will result in significant rainfall throughout the week.
As conditions evolve, rainfall in central and southern Taiwan is projected to intensify starting Sunday night, posing risks of brief heavy downpours and localized heavy rain. From Tuesday to Friday, mountainous areas from Nantou to south of Chiayi may experience extremely heavy rain or even more severe conditions. The rain is anticipated to subside over the weekend as the low-pressure system shifts slightly northward.
If the weather unfolds as forecasted, the CWA may issue large-scale or extremely heavy rain alerts as early as Monday. Liu indicated that accumulated rainfall in central and southern Taiwan could exceed 350 millimeters per day starting Tuesday. The CWA categorizes extremely heavy rain as 200 millimeters or more within 24 hours or 100 mm or more in an hour, and torrential rain as 350 millimeters or more within 24 hours or 200 mm or more in an hour.
Temperature-wise, persistent rain is expected to keep highs in central and southern Taiwan around 29 to 31 degrees Celsius. In contrast, the north and east will see temperatures ranging between 31 to 34 degrees, with areas like greater Taipei and the eastern coast, where cloud cover is sparse, potentially experiencing temperatures above 36 degrees.