Heavy rain, cooler weather forecast for Taiwan on Sunday

Taipei, May 11 (CNA) A weather front will bring periods of heavy rain and cooler weather across much of Taiwan on Sunday, but will give way to hot and mostly sunny weather over the next week, forecasters said.

The Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued a heavy rain advisory Sunday for Greater Taipei, mountainous areas of Miaoli, and from Taichung City down to Pingtung County in the western half of Taiwan.

This means over 80 millimeters of rain within 24 hours or more than 40 millimeters in a single hour is expected.

An extremely heavy rain advisory, warning of over 200 mm of rain in 24 hours or 100 mm in three hours, was also issued for Nantou County and mountainous areas of Taichung in central Taiwan, the CWA said.

The weather agency said the system is expected to bring periods of extreme weather, including thunderstorms, strong winds, and brief downpours, causing possible landslides in the mountains and flooding in low-lying areas.

In the Taipei area, the rain will begin to taper off in the evening, the CWA said.

Meanwhile, temperatures on Sunday will remain around 18-22 degrees Celsius in northern Taiwan and Yilan, 20-24 degrees in central Taiwan and Hualien, and 22-27 degrees in Taitung County and the south, the CWA said.

As the system moves into the Bashi Channel on Monday, temperatures will rise across Taiwan, with rain giving way to cloudy weather in the south and clouds giving way to sunny conditions in other regions, said meteorologist Wu Der-rong (吳德榮).

On Tuesday and Wednesday, sunny weather is forecast across Taiwan, with temperatures in some areas reaching highs of up to 35 degrees and overnight temperatures dropping as low as 17 degrees, said Wu, an adjunct associate professor in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences at National Central University.

According to the latest European forecasting models, hot and partly sunny conditions will prevail in Taiwan from Thursday through May 20, with no new "plum rain" fronts forecast for the time being, Wu said.