Orchid Island hammered by torrential rains, Taiwan next: Wu Der-rong

蘭嶼遭受暴雨重創，吳德榮：下一個是台灣

88 mm of rain falls within 1 hour on Lanyu, more than all of Taiwan's drainage systems can handle: Wu Der-rong


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- Orchid island (蘭嶼) early this morning saw a phenomenal 88 millimeters of rain within one hour from an approaching stationary front , which was more than all of Taiwan's drainage systems could handle, and meteorologist Wu Der-rong (吳德榮) says Taiwan proper will feel the impact tomorrow (June 13).

Wu said that today the weather in Taiwan proper will be sunny and stable, with high temperatures in western Taiwan reaching 35 degrees Celsius. Wu said that only mountainous areas of central, southern and eastern Taiwan can expect to see local showers.

However, Wu said that the latest European weather simulation shows that by the afternoon tomorrow, southwesterly winds will combine with a stationary front to bring heavy rains to Taiwan for several days.

Wu said that starting tomorrow, Taiwan will see severe weather, including lighting, strong winds, heavy rain and hail as the result of what he described as a "small- to medium-sized convective system." He said that if such a convective system continuously circulates over the same area, it will generate "Disastrous Torrential Rain."

Such a convective system struck Orchid Island at 12:20 a.m. this morning brining lighting, powerful winds, and 88 millimeters of rain by 1:20 a.m., more than what all of Taiwan's drainage systems combined could handle, said Wu. The Eurpoean model predicts that a similar confluence of factors will affect Taiwan proper, however the simulation is unable to predict precisely when and how severely the system will affect the island, according to Wu.

The Central Weather Bureau also pointed out that starting tomorrow (June 13) and running until Monday, southwesterly winds will combine with a stationary front to bring unstable weather, including showers, thunderstorms and extremely heavy rain to Taiwan.