Taipei: Southwesterly winds are expected to get warmer on Tuesday, pushing up daytime temperatures around Taiwan by about 2 degrees Celsius from a day earlier, with the mercury expected to top 36 degrees in the greater Taipei area and the south, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA).
According to Focus Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng stated on Monday that with little moisture in the air and cloudy to sunny skies prevailing, Taiwan is expected to record the highest daytime temperatures of the week on Tuesday. In addition to Taipei and New Taipei cities, Tseng indicated that temperatures of 36 degrees or higher are also possible in Tainan and Kaohsiung cities as well as Pingtung County in the south. Taitung County in the southeast is expected to experience foehn winds, which are hot and dry southwesterly winds that sink into the region after crossing the Central Mountain Range, leading to similar scorching temperatures.
Tseng also mentioned that a seasonal northeasterly wind system is strengthening, which will bring rain or thunderstorms to the northern half of Taiwan and eastern areas. Rain is predicted around Taiwan from Friday to Saturday, which will result in a decrease in daytime temperatures to around 30 degrees across most of Taiwan on Wednesday. The seasonal winds will further drag temperature highs down to 25-27 degrees on Thursday and potentially even 20 degrees on Friday in northern and northeastern Taiwan.
With the weakening of the weather system, the mercury in the daytime is expected to recover to 25 degrees on Saturday and rise to 30 degrees on Sunday. Meanwhile, Tseng urged the public to remain alert for dense fog and low visibility in the outlying Matsu and Kinmen islands from Tuesday to Wednesday.
