Torrential rain alerts issued for Taipei, New Taipei

Taipei, Oct. 20 (CNA) The Central Weather Administration (CWA) on Monday placed Taipei and New Taipei in northern Taiwan under extremely heavy rain or torrential rain advisories, warning of intense rainfall throughout the day.

The CWB defines "extremely heavy rain" as accumulated rainfall of 200 millimeters or more within 24 hours, or 100 mm or more within three hours, while "torrential rain" refers to accumulated rainfall of 350 mm or more in 24 hours, or more than 200 mm within three hours.

According to the CWA website, the location in Taiwan that saw the highest levels of accumulated rainfall between Sunday and 7 a.m. Monday was Nangang District in Taipei, which was soaked with 291.5 mm of rain.

Following Nangang was New Taipei's Shiding District, which accumulated 287.5 mm of rainfall in the same duration, CWA data showed.

The CWA said that due to the effects of seasonal northeasterly winds and the outer bands of Tropical Storm Fengshen, it also issued heavy rain or extremely heavy rain advisories for Taoyuan, Keelung North Coast and Yilan County.

Additionally, the CWA placed Hsinchu and Taitung counties under heavy rain advisories, warning the counties of the possibility of rainfall exceeding 40 mm in an hour or 80 mm in 24 hours.

Besides Hsinchu and Taitung, the CWA warned Orchid and Green islands of localized heavy rain on Monday.

The CWA noted that the rain alerts will stay in effect between Monday morning and Tuesday night, urging residents of the locations to be aware of sudden heavy rainfall and strong winds.

The agency advised residents in low-lying areas to be alert for potential flooding, while those in mountainous regions should watch out for landslides, mudslides, and sudden rises in river and stream levels.

Independent meteorologist Wu Der-rong (吳德榮) on Monday also warned of heavy rain from Monday to Wednesday, echoing the CWA's advisories for northern and northeastern Taiwan over the next two days.

Wu explained that the heavy rain comes from the combined effects of seasonal northeasterly winds and Tropical Storm Fengshen.

As of 8 a.m. Monday, Fengshen's center was located about 610 km southwest of Cape Eluanbi, Taiwan's southernmost point, moving west-southwest at a speed of 20 kilometers per hour, according to the CWA.

Wu said the latest forecast projects the storm to move toward the eastern side of China's Hainan Island.

Fengshen is then expected to shift southwest, moving away from Taiwan and reaching the southern side of Hainan by Wednesday, Wu said.

He added that although the storm will move farther from Taiwan, moisture brought by seasonal northeasterly winds could still bring heavy to extremely heavy rain to northern and eastern Taiwan between Thursday and Friday.