Heat alert issued for 10 cities, counties around Taiwan

Taipei, July 9 (CNA) The Central Weather Administration (CWA) has issued heat alerts for 10 cities and counties around Taiwan, as sweltering temperatures persist due to a strong Pacific high pressure system.

An "orange" heat alert, warning of temperature highs of 36 degrees Celsius for a third consecutive day, took effect Tuesday morning for Tainan City and Pingtung County in southern Taiwan, where inland areas lack winds to dispel the warm air, according to the CWA advisory.

A "yellow" heat warning, indicating single day highs of 36 degrees, was put in place for Taipei City in the north, Taichung City and Changhua and Nantou counties in central Taiwan, and Yunlin and Chiayi counties and Chiayi and Kaohsiung cities in the south.

Daytime temperatures are expected to range between 33 and 36 degrees in other places in western Taiwan on Tuesday and between 32 and 34 degrees in the east, the CWA said, urging people to take precautionary measures to avoid sunburn.

The CWA forecast partly cloudy to sunny skies for most of Taiwan on Tuesday, but indicated that brief showers and afternoon thundershowers were possible in the west and mountainous areas in the east.

The potential for rain will extend into Wednesday but have less of a reach and be limited to the Greater Taipei area and mountainous areas in the west, the CWA said.

Citing the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts' (ECMWF) model, Wu Der-rong (吳德榮), an adjunct associate professor of atmospheric sciences at National Central University, said Taiwan is expected to remain under the effect of the Pacific high pressure system until July 15 and continue to see high temperatures.

Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) rated the air quality across Taiwan as "fair" to "good" on Tuesday, saying that the current southerly wind system was dispersing pollutants in the air.