Rainy weather in parts of Taiwan on last day of long weekend: CWA

Taipei, June 1 (CNA) The Central Weather Administration (CWA) has forecast localized heavy rain in southern Taiwan on Sunday, the final day of the Dragon Boat Festival long weekend.

According to the CWA's latest weather update released at 11 a.m., southern Taiwan is expected to see brief showers or thundershowers, while southeastern areas may experience isolated brief showers or thunderstorms, due to a cloud system moving northward.

Other parts of Taiwan, along with the outlying Matsu Islands, will see mostly cloudy weather on Sunday, with localized brief thundershowers in the afternoon.

In the outlying islands, Penghu may experience brief showers or thundershowers, while Kinmen and Matsu could also see short, intermittent rainfall, the CWA said.

As for temperatures on Sunday, the CWA issued a heat alert at 11:48 a.m. for Kaohsiung and Hualien County, with highs expected to exceed 36 degrees Celsius.

As of around 11 a.m., the highest recorded temperature was 35.8 degrees Celsius in Kaohsiung's Neimen District. Yunlin County, Changhua County and Tainan also saw temperatures above 35 degrees, according to the CWA website.

Earlier forecasts indicated that daytime highs in western Taiwan would range between 33 and 34 degrees Celsius, while the eastern half of the island would see highs of 30 to 32 degrees. Lows nationwide are expected to range from 22 to 26 degrees.

In offshore areas, variations will be more pronounced, with Penghu seeing temperatures between 26 and 33 degrees, Kinmen between 24 and 31 degrees, and Matsu ranging from 23 to 28 degrees.

Meanwhile, independent meteorologist Wu Der-rong (吳德榮) said Taiwan will be surrounded by a hot air mass on Monday, making the weather "as hot as a scorching summer."

Due to lingering moisture in southern Taiwan, the central and southern areas of the nation are expected to see localized brief showers or thundershowers on Monday, with rainfall expected to intensify in the afternoon, Wu added.