Taiwan's highest mountains get snow from latest cold front

Taipei, March 18 (CNA) Taiwan's highest mountain Yushan (Mt. Jade) and other mountainous areas to its north were hit by snow early Tuesday morning due to the influence of a strong cold air mass affecting Taiwan.

According to the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency branch in Nantou county in central Taiwan, one of the county's highest mountains Hehuanshan received roughly 6 centimeters of snow in the morning.

Other nearby areas, including Wuling, which is 3,275 meters above sea level, also saw snowfall.

Elsewhere, based on information provided by the Yushan Weather Station as of 8 a.m., 1 cm of snow had been recorded on the 3,952-meter Yushan, located on the border of Nantou, Chiayi and Kaohsiung, while a low of minus 2.6 degrees Celsius was seen at 5:29 a.m.

Paiyun Lodge in Yushan National Park and Huagang in Nantou County's Ren'ai Township (2,400 m) also saw snow.

The Yushan National Park Headquarters said snow pellets began falling on Paiyun Lodge on Monday night before turning into snow early Tuesday.

Snow was also observed in Lalashan in Taoyuan's Fuxing District, the Lake Jiaming National Trail in Taitung County, and Jianshih Township in Hsinchu County.

Hsinchu County's Department of Personnel announced school closures for Hsin Kwang Elementary School in Jianshih Township on Tuesday due to the snowfall there.

The cold air mass has also brought chilly weather, and the Central Weather Administration (CWA) has issued low temperature alerts for several areas in northern and central Taiwan.

The affected regions include New Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu County, Miaoli County, Taichung City and Yilan County, where minimum ground-level temperatures could drop below 10 degrees, or even below 6 degrees in some areas, forecasters said.

Miaoli County's Sanwan Township recorded the nation's lowest temperature in a low-lying area on Tuesday morning at 8.9 degrees, followed by 9 degrees in New Taipei's Shiding District and 9.4 degrees in Hsinchu County's Guanxi Township.

The CWA said daytime highs on Tuesday are forecast to remain at roughly 16-17 degrees in the north and 18-21 degrees in central Taiwan and Taitung County in the east.

Another cold air system is expected to move into Taiwan and send temperatures further down gradually at night, it said.

Also due to a southwest cloud system moving eastward, brief showers are forecast across mountainous areas and parts of Hualien and Taitung in the east during the day.