Taiwan weather to turn wet ahead of Dragon Boat Festival

Taipei, May 28 (CNA) Western Taiwan is expected to see sporadic showers and thunderstorms Wednesday evening, as a rain-bearing weather front approaches ahead of the Dragon Boat Festival long weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) has forecast.

The weather front will move closer to Taiwan throughout the day Wednesday, bringing localized showers and thunderstorms to mountainous areas and the eastern counties of Yilan, Hualien and Taitung in the afternoon, the CWA said.

In addition, the CWA had strong wind advisories in place for coastal areas in western Taiwan between Tamsui in New Taipei in the north and Beimen in Tainan.

It warned of winds of 39 kilometers per hour, with gusts of 62 kph, appearing throughout Wednesday and into Thursday evening.

Daytime temperatures on Wednesday are forecast to hit highs of 28-31 degrees Celsius in northern Taiwan, 31-32 degrees in central Taiwan, 32-34 degrees in the south, and 26-30 degrees in the east, according to the CWA.

On Thursday, showers and thunderstorms are forecast for most parts of Taiwan as the weather front makes it way over Taiwan from the northwest to the south, and seasonal northeasterly winds are expected to drive temperatures down in the evening, the CWA said.

Meanwhile, independent meteorologist Wu Der-rong (吳德榮) said in his daily weather outlook that the weather front could cause significant rainfall across Taiwan as well as lightning and high winds on Thursday, citing the models of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.

On Friday morning, the first day of the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, only southern Taiwan is expected to experience localized showers in the morning as the weather front moves over the Bashi Channel south of Taiwan, Wu said.

Sunny and warmer weather is expected across Taiwan on Saturday, while the weather on Sunday is forecast to be sunny to partly cloudy with "summer-like" heat and possible afternoon thunderstorms, Wu said.