Mercury hits 12.4°C in Shimen, lowest in Taiwan low-lying area

Taipei, Nov. 19 (CNA) A temperature of 12.4 degrees Celsius was recorded in Shimen District in New Taipei early Wednesday, the lowest of any low-lying area in Taiwan, as seasonal northeasterly winds brought cooler air to northern Taiwan.

Data compiled by the Central Weather Administration (CWA) also showed temperatures as low as 12.7 degrees in Yangmei District in Taoyuan City and 12.8 degrees in Guanxi District in Hsinchu County in the early hours of Wednesday.

The CWA said northern Taiwan is expected to see a mild recovery during the day to 17-18 degrees Wednesday before falling to 15-17 degrees at night.

The effects of the weather system from the northeast were less apparent elsewhere in Taiwan, however. Daytime temperatures were likely to top 20 degrees in central Taiwan and hit 25-27 degrees in the south, the CWA forecast.

Though the cooler air is relatively dry, the CWA said brief showers were possible in the northern half of Taiwan, along the east coast, and in the Hengchun Peninsula in the south on Wednesday.

After experiencing occasional showers Wednesday morning, the CWA said, central and southern Taiwan are expected to see partly cloudy to sunny skies in the afternoon.

Independent meteorologist Wu Der-rong (吳德榮) called the latest weather system the coldest so far this fall and said low-lying areas in the northern third of Taiwan were likely to record temperatures as low as 12 degrees early Thursday morning.

Meanwhile, the air quality across most of Taiwan was fair to good Wednesday, according to the Ministry of Environment.

Parts of Yunlin and Chiayi counties and Tainan City in the south and Taitung County in the east, however, were under an "orange" alert, which warns of unhealthy conditions for sensitive groups such as children, the elderly, and people with respiratory or heart problems.