Much-needed rain soaks parts of Taiwan, but brings minor flooding and rockfalls
The Central Weather Bureau issued heavy rain and extremely heavy rain warnings for parts of Taiwan extending from the north to mountain districts in the south, and much of the east coast this afternoon, as the influence of a front saw the development of strong convective cloud systems in some coastal and mountain areas.
Heavy rain alerts were issued for a total of 16 counties and cities, with extremely heavy rain alerts issued for Keelung City, Taipei City, New Taipei City, Taoyuan City, Hsinchu City, Miaoli County, Taichung City , Nantou County and Chiayi County.
Minor Flooding in Parts of Greater Taipei
The Water Resources Department issued a Level 1 flood warning for New Taipei City, where parts of Neihu, Xizhi, and Wulai saw minor flooding.
Neihu District saw more than 100 millimeters of rain fall in just one hour, creating a one-meter-deep flood in Lane 58, Donghu Road.
Massive Boulder Falls onto Coastal Highway
At 3:30 pm, a large boulder fell from a slope at the base of Ruifang Mountain onto the Coastal Highway at the 75.8 kilometer mark. Fortunately the rock did not hit any passersby or vehicles, and landed on the shoulder of the road.
Much-Needed Rain Falls in Reservoir Catchment Areas
Up to 90 millimeters of rain fell in some areas of the Feitsui Reservoir catchment area in New Taipei City, with an average of 69.6 millimeters. The Water Resources Department estimates that this will add around four million tons of water to the reservoir. A similar amount of rain was measured in the catchment area of the Shimen Reservoir in Taoyuan City.
In Taiwan’s central districts where the water situation is critical following a record-breaking drought, rain was reported in the catchment area of the Deji Reservoir in Taichung City at 4:17 pm. The Deji Reservoir is currently almost completely empty at less than 2% capacity.
Fruit growers were overjoyed to see the rain, with some trees already dead due to lack of rainfall or water for irrigation, they hope that some trees can be saved.
Rain to continue tomorrow and another front will arrive Saturday
Meteorologist Wu Derong posted to Facebook pointing out that the front is a “stationary front” and will continue to hover over Taiwan tomorrow, bringing more rain in the form of localised showers and thunderstorms. The front will weaken and move north from Wednesday. Another stationary front will arrive Saturday and is expected to hover over Taiwan for around four days, bringing more rain.
Taiwan English News is an independent publication with no corporate funding. If you found this article informative, and would like to support my work, please buy me a coffee or support me on Patreon. Subscribe to Taiwan English News for free to receive the latest news via email. Advertising queries are welcome. Share, like, comment below.