Temperature gap reaches 'highly dangerous' levels in northern Taiwan

Taipei, March 21 (CNA) Day-night temperature differences across most of Taiwan have been significant since Thursday, reaching "highly dangerous" levels in some areas of the north and "dangerous" in other parts of the country, data from the Central Weather Administration (CWA) indicated.

According to the CWA, temperature differences within 24 hours above 13 degrees Celsius are "highly dangerous," while an 11-degree difference is "dangerous," 9 degrees is "alert-level," and 7 degrees is designated "take notice."

A weather difference warning is issued because people with health problems can have difficulty adjusting to the change in temperature, a family medicine physician said Friday.

Liu Peng Chi (柳朋馳), a resident physician in Shin Kong Wu Ho Su Memorial Hospital's family medicine department, told the press via a phone interview that large temperature differences during the day can worsen the conditions of those with cardiovascular or respiratory diseases.

It can even cause sudden death, he said.

The CWA said that areas of Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu County, and Miaoli County will see differences that are "highly dangerous" on Friday night, while Taichung, Chiayi City, and Yilan, Chuanghua, Yunlin, Nantou, Chiayi, Pingtung and Kinmen counties fall within the "dangerous" category.

In Keelung City, Hualien, Taitung, and Lienchiang counties, the temperature difference is at "alert" level, while Tainan and Kaohsiung are at "take notice" level.

The drastic temperature differences arise from radiative cooling, a massive cooling of the ground that occurs under clear skies and dry conditions, the CWA said.