TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Central Weather Bureau (CWB) has issued a cold surge advisory for Taiwan, including an orange signal for temperatures below 6 degrees Celsius in 16 counties and cities from Wednesday (Dec. 30) to New Year's Eve.
As winds intensify and a cold wave blows in from the north on Wednesday, the CWB is anticipating a dramatic change in temperatures across the country. From Wednesday through New Year's Day, the weather bureau predicts that the temperature in northern and central Taiwan will drop down to 7 degrees.
The weather bureau has issued an orange signal for temperatures below 6 degrees in 16 counties and cities, including Keelung City, Taipei City, New Taipei City, Taoyuan City, Hsinchu County, Miaoli County, Yilan County, Hsinchu City, Taichung City, Changhua County, Yunlin County, Hualien County, Taitung County, Penghu County, Kinmen County, and Lienchiang County. In addition, it has issued a yellow signal for temperatures below 10 degrees in Nantou County, Chiayi City, Chiayi County, Tainan City, Kaohsiung City, and Pingtung County.
The CWB predicts that skies will be partly cloudy to sunny across the country on Wednesday, but winds will start to pick up in the evening. Wednesday evening, wind speeds are expected to increase from between level 5 and 6 on the Beaufort scale to between level 8 and 9, with gusts as high as level 11.
In addition, temperatures are predicted to drop drastically as the cold wave moves in. The CWB forecasts that temperatures will be at their lowest between New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. Lows in the early morning and evenings on those two days is expected to range between 7 and 8 degrees in central and northern Taiwan, while the south will see lows of 10 to 11 degrees on New Year's Eve and 8 to 10 degrees on New Year's Day.
Temperatures will gradually start to rise on Jan. 2, with lows in the north ranging between 10 and 12 degrees and in the south between 14 and 15 degrees. By Jan. 3, lows in the north are expected to climb to between 15 and 20 degrees.
From Jan. 2 to Jan. 3, brief showers are likely in the northern and eastern parts of the country. The CWB predicts that by Jan. 4, another northeast monsoon will arrive, bringing isolated showers to these regions.
The CWB estimates that temperatures could drop again on Jan. 4, but there is still a high degree of uncertainty in current weather models for that period, and more observation is needed.
