Heat alert issued Monday for most of Taiwan

Taipei, July 1 (CNA) The Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued a heat warning for large areas of Taiwan on Monday, advising that temperatures are expected to range between 33 and 36 degrees in most parts of the country, while a high of 38 degrees was likely in Taitung County.

The expected high daytime temperature in Taitung in southeastern Taiwan was attributed to foehn winds, hot dry southwesterly winds that usually come down the Central Mountain Range into the lower regions in summer, according to the CWA.

For the rest of the country, a heat alert has been issued for 16 of the 22 cities and counties, as strong southwesterly winds persisted Monday, the CWA said.

The weather agency issued an "orange" heat alert for Taipei, Taoyuan and Hsinchu County in the north; Taichung and Changhua and Nantou counties in central Taiwan; Yunlin and Pingtung counties and Tainan in the south; and Taitung County in the southeast.

In addition, a "yellow" heat alert remains in place for New Taipei, Hsinchu City and Miaoli County in the north; and Chiayi City, Chiayi County and Kaohsiung in the south, the CWA said.

According to the CWB's three-level heat advisory system, an orange warning is issued if a high of 36 degrees is expected for at least three consecutive days, while a yellow alert warns of temperatures of 36 degrees on a single day.

With temperatures of 33 to 36 degrees expected across most of the country on Monday, people are advised to take precautionary measures to avoid sunburn and to stay hydrated when outdoors, the CWA said.

Sunny skies will prevail Monday, with some brief afternoon thundershowers in the mountainous regions in the northern half of Taiwan and in Yilan and Hualien counties, the CWA said.

Update: The heat warning issued for Tuesday at 5:52 p.m. on Monday.

Meanwhile, the southwesterly system is expected to bring in strong winds and high waves to the coastal areas between Taoyuan and Miaoli, Orchid Island and Green Island in the southeast, and the outlying Matsu islands, the CWA said.

For the rest of the week, the hot weather will continue across Taiwan, but Taitung is expected to get some relief from foehn winds as they change direction, the CWA has forecast.

On Monday, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) rated the air quality across the country as "fair" to "good," saying that the southeasterly winds were dispersing the pollutants in the air.