Weather events that affect the normal flow of life in Taiwan
Two groups of tourists called emergency services after becoming trapped by floodwaters caused by afternoon thunderstorms in the Wulai District of New Taipei City on Sunday afternoon, June 26. One group was rescued after firefighters and police deployed a ladder into a steep gorge. Another group of 20 people were trapped on a sandbar, and are not considered to be in immediate danger at the time of reporting.
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A train derailed in Hualian County near Ruisui Township at around 3PM this afternoon, Wednesday, June 22. Early reports say two people were injured. Expecting a large number of injuries due to the large number of passengers and the severity of the accident, fire-fighters and a large number of ambulances were dispatched to the scene. The number 307 Tz Chiang class express train derailed at 2:49PM, causing one carriage to fall on its side and two others lean over. Although
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Heavy, persistent rain in Taiwan’s north has caused flooding in Hsinchu and Taoyuan Counties, leading to road closures and train delays. Taiwan Rail’s western line has been reduced to single track traffic due to flooding at Hukou. At Taoyuan International Airport water leaks and a five minute power outage caused minor inconveniences for travelers. The power outage was caused by an overload switch being triggered when water pumps were turned on to drain floodwater. Locals call the seasonal summer monsoon
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Heavy rains caused flooding in Taiwan’s south along with landslides, while wet roads contributed to a spate of accidents across the island Monday, June 13. The Council of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service issued a red alert for 85 landslide-prone areas and a yellow alert for 252 others. Evacuation of residents in affected areas in Kaohsiung began last night and as of this morning up to 1900 residents have been relocated to safer areas. In Taichung city, the municipal government prepared
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Planes were grounded at Taipei Taoyuan International Airport this morning June 2, as a lightning strike damaged a radio navigation system, and blackouts and floods affected operations at the airport. A total of 104 flights were affected when flights were suspended a little before 9:00am. Flights resumed before noon, after the navigation system was repaired. In other areas of northern Taiwan, thunderstorms brought torrential rain causing local flooding. At 11:45 a rock-slide blocked traffic in both directions on the Su-Hua
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Record high temperatures for June has brought the risk of brownouts as Taiwan’s electricity grid strains to keep up with demand. In Taipei, the weather bureau recorded 37.9 degrees Celsius at 12:54, marking the previous record temperature for June previously reached in 1954 and 2001. At 13:34, the temperature measured 38.2. The municipal government instituted road sprinkling operations using recycled water to cool asphalt on city roads. Taipei City EPA said the asphalt can reach 50 degrees, and sprinkling can
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Due to expected snow and icy conditions on Taiwan’s mountain roads, the National Highway Administration has announced that traffic controls will be implemented from tonight March 24 to the morning of March 26. Motorists will be required to use snow chains to traverse some sections on the cross-island highways and other high-altitude roads. Some sections may completely closed to traffic depending on conditions. Taiwan is currently under the influence of a continental cold air mass. Continental high pressure systems form
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The northeast monsoon has brought heavy rain to Taiwan, causing flight and shipping delays, landslides, and slippery road conditions. Flights from Taipei Taoyuan Airport this morning were delayed an average 40 minutes due to foggy conditions. Similar conditions are being experienced in Hong Kong, Southern China, and Macau. Around this time every year, cold fronts forming over Siberia reach Taiwan and interact with the moist Pacific air-mass, and the rain falls by the bucket-load. This year, due to the El
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A 21 year old man is missing in snowy conditions after slipping and falling while attempting to reach the peak of Taiwan’s highest mountain, Mt Jade ( 玉山; Yù Shān). Search and rescue teams have been scouring the area in snowy and foggy conditions but have yet to find any trace of the man. The student of National Taiwan Sport University set out to climb the summit Friday morning February 19 with a group of friends. National Park authorities advised
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At the time of writing, Taipei is under the influence of cold front originating in the arctic regions and flowing down through Siberia, to produce some of the coldest temperatures experienced in at least a decade. New Taipei City’s Wulai District saw snowfall Saturday night. The same district was subjected to severe damage from a tropical typhoon last summer. Wulai-snow by wildeastmagazine
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Tropical Storm Dujuan intensified into a typhoon this week and deviated from its predicted northward track towards Japan, and started to move northwest towards Taipei. Dujuan’s arrival coincides with Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations and a long weekend. Millions of people have gathered with family to enjoy barbecuing and moon gazing outdoors. Sunday morning, September 27, Dujuan is packing winds of 55 m/s (around 200kmh), and is expected to intensify into a category 4 typhoon before making landfall around 8pm Monday evening. Many families enjoyed barbecuing
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