Mercury drops below 7 degrees in Taiwan Sunday morning: CWA

Taipei, Feb. 9 (CNA) A temperature as low as 6.4 degrees Celsius was recorded in New Taipei on Sunday as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) continued its cold surge advisories across Taiwan.

Sunday saw the CWA issue the advisories to 21 out of 22 cities and counties, one more than it did on Friday and Saturday, as persistent low temperatures continued due to the presence of a cold front.

The lowest temperatures in low-lying areas on Taiwan proper were 6.4 degrees recorded in New Taipei's Shiding District, followed by 6.6 degrees in Miaoli County's Sanwan Township.

"Orange alerts" that warn of sustained temperatures of around or below 10 degrees, or dropping below 6 degrees, have been maintained for Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Taichung, Keelung and Hsinchu cities as well as Hsinchu, Miaoli, Changhua, Nantou, Yunlin, Yilan, Hualien and Taitung counties, plus outlying Kinmen and Lienchiang counties, according to the CWA.

Meanwhile, "yellow alerts" warning of the lowest temperature dropping below 10 degrees have been issued for Tainan, Kaohsiung and Chiayi City, as well as Chiayi and Pingtung counties.

Nantou and Yunlin were the only places that saw a change in their alerts from Saturday to Sunday as their previous yellow alerts were upgraded to orange due to the severity of the cold spell.

The only location in Taiwan that did not receive a cold surge advisory was the outlying county of Penghu, which had been spared by temperatures below 10 degrees.

According to independent meteorologist Wu Der-rong (吳德榮), the latest European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts model showed that northern Taiwan will remain chilly while other areas will experience a significant day-night temperature difference between Sunday and Monday.

There are still chances that temperatures on Taiwan proper could dip to 5 degrees, Wu said, adding that they will start to climb back up between Monday morning and Wednesday.

The CWA also issued strong wind advisories that will last throughout Sunday morning for Pingtung, Taitung and Penghu counties.