離開
進入《TAIPEI TIMES》 Scorching temperatures forecast
Children play at the Taipei Water Park yesterday. Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
YELLOW, ORANGE, RED: The Central Weather Bureau issued heat warnings for Hualien, Yilan and Taitung counties, as well as for Taipei and New Taipei City
By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter, with CNA
Taiwan is likely to have scorching weather over the next few days, with highs in the north and east forecast to exceed the hottest temperatures so far this year, meteorologists said yesterday.
The Central Weather Bureau （CWB） yesterday issued a “red” heat warning — or a daily high temperature forecast of at least 38°C for at least three consecutive days — for Hualien County, while “orange” alerts — indicating a high of at least 36°C for three consecutive days or daytime highs of at least 38°C — were issued for Yilan （a three-day warning） and Taitung （a 38°C warning） counties.
A “yellow” warning was issued for Taipei and New Taipei City, suggesting daytime highs of at least 36°C.
Due to an approaching tropical continental air mass, daytime temperatures could continue to rise nationwide starting tomorrow, said Daniel Wu （吳德榮）, an adjunct associate professor of atmospheric sciences at National Central University.
Daytime highs in the nation’s north and east on Monday and Tuesday might exceed the hottest temperatures recorded in Taiwan so far this year, Wu said.
The highest temperatures in Taiwan this year was 41.4°C in Hualien on July 22, bureau data showed.
On Wednesday, the CWB said that two effects might be behind a lack of storms affecting Taiwan this year.
The La Nina effect in the Pacific Ocean and a negative Indian Ocean Dipole effect are two possible factors leading to fewer storm systems forming in the northwest Pacific, it said.
July and August are generally the most active months for typhoons in the northwest Pacific, but CWB data showed that only five typhoons or tropical storms have formed in the region since last month, the second-lowest on record.
This year is not the first time that storms have not affected Taiwan until late in the summer, it said.
In 2010, tropical storm Namtheun — the first to affect Taiwan that year — formed on Aug. 27, with the CWB issuing a a land and sea warning on Aug. 31, while Typhoon Tasha in 1993 arrived on Aug. 17 and Typhoon Winnie in 1997 arrived on Aug. 16.
The lack of storms, which are a major source of rain for Taiwan, has meant a significant shortage of rainfall for the past seven weeks, the bureau said.
“La Nina has led to relatively cold sea temperatures in the western Pacific, causing easterly winds to extend westward, while westerlies from the Bay of Bengal to the South China Sea are weakening, which is not conducive to the development of a monsoon trough,” it said.
The general atmospheric conditions are not conducive to the formation of typhoons, the bureau said.
A low-pressure area expected to form to the south of Taiwan next week would be an ideal environment for the development of tropical systems, it added.
“There is still a chance that a typhoon or a tropical storm would form in the next few weeks, as we are still in the middle of the typhoon season,” it said.
新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
