Taiwan fall weather set to be warm and wet: CWA

Taipei, Aug. 30 (CNA) Taiwan is likely to experience warm weather over the fall with above-average rainfall, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said Friday.

At a news conference Friday, CWA Weather Forecast Center Director Chen Yi-liang (陳怡良) said the fact that the Pacific Ocean is warmer in the west and cooler in the east indicated that the La Niña phenomenon could be developing, increasing the chances of warm and wet weather.

With the typhoon season in the northwestern part of the Pacific continuing through September and October, Taiwan could still be affected, Chen noted.

According to Chen, between January and August this year, temperatures averaged 24.8 degrees Celsius.

This was above the average for the first half of the year since records began in 1951 of 24.0 degrees, Chen said.

Excluding the days when Typhoon Gaemi passed through Taiwan in the middle of the month, average rainfall in July was down compared to previous years, Chen said.

Average rainfall in July and August was on par with previous years, Chen added.

However, southern and central locations should be alert to the possibility of prolonged dry spells, Chen said.

Meanwhile, the CWA also announced an update to its current earthquake alert system at Friday's news conference.

The director of the CWA's Seismological Center Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) explained that the nation's current Public Warning Cell Broadcast Service, introduced in 2016, issues alerts to locations predicted to experience tremors stronger than magnitude 5 with an intensity of 4 and above on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale.

However, the system sometimes underestimates the magnitude and fails to notify people of an earthquake in areas where its effects are still felt, Wu said.

This happened during the 7.2 tremor in Hualien County on April 3, Wu said.

After discussions with academics and disaster prevention and response experts, Wu said it was decided that the alert parameter would be expanded to locations experiencing earthquakes stronger than magnitude 6.5 with an intensity of 3 and above.

The new parameters will take effect starting Sept. 1, according to Wu.

Wu also said the expansion of detection parameters would give people occupying higher floors in taller buildings more time to respond to earthquakes.

Using the April 3 earthquake as an example, Wu said the intensity observed in Taipei peaked 16 to 17 seconds after the earthquake struck.

The adjusted system will provide people with an extra two to three seconds to seek shelter, Wu said.