Heavy rains in northern Taiwan forecast to continue into Thursday

Taipei, Oct. 22 (CNA) The heavy downpours that have been drenching northern Taiwan this week are expected to continue throughout Wednesday and into Thursday, as a low-pressure system east of the country is bringing more moisture, according to forecasters.

The heavy rain is not likely to ease until Saturday, although it will not stop entirely, Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecaster Liu Pei-teng (劉沛滕) said Wednesday.

Currently, the windward areas of Greater Taipei, Taoyuan, and Yilan are experiencing the heaviest rainfall, which is categorized by the CWA as torrential, he said.

Extremely heavy to torrential rain is expected to continue throughout the day Wednesday in the Greater Taipei area and northern Keelung, as well as in Yilan County, with a chance of easing during the night, Liu said.

The CWA on Wednesday issued rain advisories for mountainous areas of Taipei and New Taipei, including Wuzhishan and Dongshan in Xizhi District, warning of torrential to extremely torrential rainfall during the day.

Advisories were also issued for northern Keelung, Taipei, and Yilan County, which are expected to see extremely heavy to torrential rain, while other parts of Keelung, New Taipei, and Taoyuan are likely to experience heavy or extremely heavy rain, according to the CWA.

People in those areas are advised to be aware of the risk of landslides, rockfalls, mudflows, and flash floods, the CWA said.

Under the CWA's rain advisories, torrential rain is defined as accumulated rainfall of 350 mm or more within 24 hours, while extremely torrential rain means accumulated rainfall of 500 mm or more over a 24-hour period.

Heavy rain is defined as accumulated rainfall of 80 millimeters or more within a 24-hour period or 40 mm or more in an hour, while extremely heavy rain refers to accumulated rainfall of 200 mm or more within 24 hours.

The CWA has attributed the recent heavy downpours in northern Taiwan to the influence of the northeast monsoon and a low-pressure system east of the country.

While there is little chance that the system will develop into a storm, it is likely to cause continued heavy precipitation in northern Taiwan, Liu said.

A former head of the CWA has forecast, however, that the system may develop into a storm.

Radar imagery shows strong convection that seems to be tightening at the center of the system, Cheng Ming-tien (鄭明典) said in a Facebook post. If that continues for another cycle, the "small low pressure system could become a typhoon," he wrote.

Meanwhile, temperatures will be cool on Wednesday, with highs of 22 to 31 degrees Celsius across Taiwan, according to the CWA.