CWA warns of high day-night temperature gap in western Taiwan

Taipei, Jan. 7 (CNA) Western Taiwan will experience differences in day and night temperatures of up to 10 degrees Celsius on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) has forecast.

The latest cold air mass that hit Taiwan will send nighttime lows to 11-13 degrees in the northern half of the island and to 14-15 degrees in the southern half and in Hualien and Taitung counties during the two days, the CWA said.

During the day, temperatures will rise to 17-20 degrees in northern and eastern Taiwan and 22-24 degrees in central and southern Taiwan, according to CWA data.

Meanwhile, the CWA forecast cloudy to sunny skies for most of Taiwan on Tuesday, except for the Keelung north coast, eastern Taiwan and the Hengchun Peninsula, where brief and scattered showers could occur.

Looking ahead to later in the week and the weekend, independent meteorologist Wu Der-rong (吳德榮) expected colder air to blanket Taiwan from Thursday to early Monday morning, bringing daytime highs in northern Taiwan down to about 13 degrees on Friday.

Early morning lows could drop to under 5 degrees Wednesday morning, said Wu, an associate professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at Taiwan's National Central University.

Wu also forecast rain in northern and eastern Taiwan from Thursday to Sunday morning, with high chances of snow on mountains over 3,000 meters high and some chance of snow at elevations over 2,000 meters.

The lowest temperature recorded in a low-lying area on the island early Tuesday morning was 4.2 degrees in Sanwan Township in northern Miaoli County.

It was the lowest temperature recorded during the current winter season to date in a low-lying area on Taiwan proper, according to Wu.