3 more days of heavy rain in forecast for waterlogged Taiwan

到處積水的台灣預計將再下3天多的大雨

Next 2 days to bring most 'intense' rains in central and southern Taiwan as tropical depression lingers and southwestern winds blow


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) -- Despite three-straight days of torrential rainfall, waterlogged Taiwan looks set to be hammered by at least three more days of heavy rains with 10 counties and cities issued heavy and extremely heavy rain advisories by the Central Weather Bureau (CWB).

As a tropical depression and moist southwesterly winds continue to impact Taiwan, the CWB has issued an extremely heavy rain advisory for Tainan City, Kaohsiung City, Taitung County, and Pingtung County, while a heavy rain advisory has been issued for Yilan County, Hualien County, Changhua County, Yunlin County, Chiayi County and Chiayi City. A strong wind advisory has also been issued for all of Taiwan.

As of 6:20 a.m. this morning, the cumulative rainfall in Pingtung's Chunli Township has reached 121 millimeters, while Kaohsiung's Xiaogang District saw 109.5 mm of rain.

(CWB) forecaster Wang Pin-hsiang (王品翔) said the southwesterly winds will continue to affect Taiwan until Wednesday. During this three-day period, heavy rains are likely in central and southern Taiwan, with the next two days likely and the rain is expected to be the most "intense" over the next two days.

The southwest airflow is not expected to weaken until Thursday or Friday, but even then, a large low-pressure zone will surround Taiwan and could continue to bring heavy rain to central and southern parts of the country.

Meteorologist Wu Der-Romg (吳德榮) said the southwesterly winds have a low layer of water vapor which is lifted by the terrain of the Hengchun Peninsula in Pingtung, where it will continue to dump heavy rains over the coming days. Wu said that the next three days will see a high incidence of "severe weather," and he reminds citizens to beware of floods, landslides and rockfalls.


Aerial photograph showing flooding in Chiayi County's Donghsi Township (CNA image)