Heavy rain warnings issued for northern Taiwan

Taipei, March 6 (CNA) A heavy rain advisory was issued Thursday for some areas of northern Taiwan, as the wet weather was forecast to continue across most of Taiwan.

The abundant moisture is being carried on a passing cloud system that came in from southern China, bringing rains to central and northern parts of Taiwan, and the eastern counties of Hualien and Taitung, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said.

It has issued a heavy rain advisory for Keelung and New Taipei cities, as well as Yilan County, warning of accumulated rainfall of over 80 millimeters in a 24-hour period or hourly rainfall exceeding 40 millimeters.

The CWA has also warned the public to be mindful of possible landslides and falling rocks when traveling in mountainous areas.

As the rainy weather continued Thursday from the previous two days, Wanli District in New Taipei recorded 63.5 mm of accumulated rainfall between 12 a.m. and 8 a.m., CWA data showed.

It was the heaviest precipitation recorded nationwide for the eight-hour period, followed by 48.5 mm in Keelung's Zhongshan District, according to the CWA.

Meanwhile, due to seasonal northeasterly winds, lows of 13-14 degrees Celsius are expected Thursday in some areas of central, northern and northeastern Taiwan, and 16-18 degrees in the southern parts of the country, as well as in Taitung and Hualien in the east, the CWA said.

Other regions, including Taiwan's offshore Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu islands, could see lows of around 8-16 degrees, the CWA said.