Brisk, sunny weather forecast through Sunday as cold front sets in

Taipei, Nov. 27 (CNA) An incoming cold front pushed temperatures in parts of northern Taiwan down into the low single digits early Wednesday, and is expected to bring crisp, sunny weather to much of the country through the weekend, forecasters said.

According to Central Weather Administration (CWA) data, temperatures hit as low as 3.6 degrees in mountainous Datong Township in Yilan County and 8.0 degrees in hilly Beitou in the northwestern part of Taipei overnight.

In low-lying areas, Gongguan Township in Miaoli County recorded the lowest overnight temperature of any non-mountainous area in Taiwan, at 12.7 degrees Celsius, while Shiding Township in New Taipei reported a low of 13.7 degrees.

In most other locations in the north, overnight lows fell to 16-17 degrees, CWA data showed.

The arrival of the current dry, cold air mass over Taiwan is expected to bring a spell of crisp, sunny weather to much of the country from Wednesday through Sunday morning, according to independent meteorologist Wu Der-rong (吳德榮).

During that period, daytime temperatures will climb to around 23 degrees in the north and 27-28 degrees in the center and south, but will drop quickly, giving way to cold temperatures overnight, Wu said.

Wu said the current weather system will likely qualify as the winter's first "continental cold air mass," meaning that it will bring temperatures of 10 degrees or below in some low-elevation areas, or 14 degrees or below at the Taipei weather station.

The CWA's 7-day forecast shows temperatures dropping to 11-13 degrees as far south as Chiayi County on Friday.

As the cold front lifts on Sunday through the early part of next week, the weather will gradually turn rainy in the east, while the western half of the country will continue to experience clear weather and large day-night temperature gaps, Wu said.