Weather to become drier as cold spell continues

Taipei, March 19 (CNA) The weather across Taiwan will become drier Wednesday as an ongoing cold front continues to push overnight temperatures down to as low as 10 degrees Celsius, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA).

During the day on Wednesday, temperatures will remain around 15-18 degrees in the north, 17-19 degrees in Hualien and Taitung in the east, and 21-22 degrees in central and southern Taiwan, the CWA said.

Overnight temperatures, meanwhile, will fall to 10-11 degrees in the north and center, and to 13-15 degrees in other regions, the agency said.

The weather will also gradually become drier Wednesday, with clear to cloudy conditions forecast for most of Taiwan, but there is still a chance of isolated rain showers along the Keelung coast and in eastern Taiwan, the Hengchun Peninsula in the south, and the mountains around Taipei.

Looking ahead to the coming days, sunny to partly cloudy conditions and gradually warming temperatures are forecast nationwide through the early part of next week.

Over the weekend, daytime temperatures are expected to rebound back into the mid-20s in much of Taiwan, while overnight temperatures will remain on the cool side, dropping into the mid to low teens, the weather agency said.

Chilly morning temperatures, late season snow

Meanwhile, the CWA said temperatures well below 10 degrees were measured at locations across northern Taiwan early Wednesday morning.

The coldest overnight temperature for a non-mountainous area was recorded in Hsinchu's Guanxi Township, where the mercury dropped to 4.2 degrees, the CWA said.

Overnight temperatures also fell to 4.7 degrees in Miaoli's Sanwan Township, 5.9 degrees in New Taipei's Shiding District, 6.3 degrees in Keelung's Qidu District and 7.9 degrees in Taipei's Nangang District, according to agency data.

As of Wednesday morning, the ongoing cold front had also dumped an accumulated 11.5 centimeters of snow and frozen over roadways on Hehuanshan (Hehuan Mountain) in central Taiwan, the CWA said.

Due to the icy road conditions, the Highway Bureau said it had mandated snow chains for vehicle tires on the Dayuling section of Provincial Highway No. 8 and on Provincial Highway 14A between Dayuling and the Yuanfeng Lookout, both near Hehuanshan.