Taiwan Business TOPICS Photo: Martti Chen
After a year with no typhoons, Taiwan is currently experiencing its worst drought in more than half a century. Reservoirs revealed their eerie secrets as the water level receded: bridges, schools, and even whole abandoned villages were uncovered. As of April, the worst-hit areas of Taichung and Miaoli Counties have been put on “Red Alert,” with rolling two-day water shutdowns being carried out every week, as well as additional restrictions for businesses. If the long-anticipated monsoon “plum rains” in May and June do not come, the entire west side of the island, including the silicon stronghold of Hsinchu, is in danger of going into Red Alert.
Firms ‘unaffected’ by drought: minister
EXTREME WEATHER: Due to climate change, there is greater ‘interannual variability,’ meaning Taiwan is experiencing dramatically drier and wetter years, an expert said
By Angelica Oung / Staff reporter
Despite a “less than ideal” amount of rain this month, the nation’s manufacturers “remain unaffected” by this year’s drought, Minister of Economic Affairs Wang Mei-hua (王美花) said yesterday.
“It’s true that the weather forecasts for April are not ideal, but by continuing current water restrictions in central Taiwan, there should be enough water until the plum rain season arrives,” Wang said.
Taichung and Miaoli County have been on “red alert” since Tuesday last week, with weekly water supplies to households and businesses on for five days and off for two days.
2021/02/17 10:49 (CNA photo) TAIPEI (Taiwan News) A continental cold air mass is poised to strike Taiwan, dropping temperatures for the rest of the week to as low as 9 degrees Celsius in the north by Friday (Feb. 19) while a tropical storm looms. The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) today (Feb. 17) announced that a continental cold air mass has descended on Taiwan from the north. Rain is likely today in the north and east, while sporadic rainfall is likely in mountainous areas of the central and southern regions. According to the CWB, daytime highs today will range between 17 and 19 degrees in the north and 20 and 23 degrees in the rest of the country. Lows are expected to drop to between 12 and 14 degrees in central, northern, northeastern, and eastern Taiwan, while the rest of the country will register lows of between 15 and 18 degrees.
2021/01/07 17:40 (Pixabay photo) (Pixabay photo) TAIPEI (Taiwan News) WeatherRisk director Chia Hsin-hsing (賈新興) on Thursday (Jan. 7) posted a map on Facebook showing seven counties and cities that are likely to see snow by Friday morning (Jan. 8). In a Facebook post uploaded at 7 a.m., Chia predicted that as a cold wave arrives, snow would begin to fall by 2 p.m. Thursday afternoon and would intensify during the evening. He predicted that snow would first fall in mountainous areas of Yilan, Taoyuan, and Hsinchu counties. Chia said that based on a model by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, seven counties and cities are most likely to see snowfall accumulation, including New Taipei City, Taoyuan City, and Hsinchu, Miaoli, Yilan, Taichung, and Hualien counties.