Mercury forecast to plunge in Taiwan with arrival Saturday of cold air mass

Taipei, Dec. 11 (CNA) A continental cold air mass will move into Taiwan on Saturday for the first time this season, sending temperatures plummeting to lows of 10 degrees Celsius in some parts of the country over the following days, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA).

Late Sunday and early Monday are expected to be the coldest periods, with lows of 12-14 degrees forecast for lowland areas of northern and central Taiwan, and 14-16 degrees in most other regions, the CWA said.

On Sunday and Monday, temperatures in some areas may drop below 10 degrees during the midnight to dawn period, the CWA added.

If temperature and humidity conditions align, snow might fall late Saturday into the early hours of Monday at altitudes of over 3,500 meters in northern and central Taiwan, according to the CWA.

Daytime highs will rebound to around 21 degrees on Monday and will rise to about 24 degrees on Tuesday, according to the CWA.

Meanwhile, on Thursday, highs of 24-26 degrees are expected in northern Taiwan, and 27-29 degrees in the central and south, CWA forecaster Lin Ting-i (林定宜) told CNA.

Central and southern regions may experience day-night temperature differences of more than 10 degrees due to radiative cooling, he said.

Temperatures will start falling from Friday into Saturday as the continental cold air mass approaches, Lin said.

Stronger northeasterly winds will also bring rain to northern and eastern Taiwan on Friday and Saturday, with northern Keelung, Yilan County, and mountainous areas of Taipei seeing intermittent to heavy showers, according to the CWA.

Sunday and Monday will be drier, with sunny to partly cloudy skies in most areas, although some scattered showers might continue in northern Keelung, Yilan, mountainous areas of Taipei, and Hengchun Township, the CWA.

By Tuesday, sunny to cloudy skies will emerge across most of Taiwan, but on Wednesday another northeasterly wind system may bring rain again to Keelung, Yilan, and mountainous areas of Taipei, the CWA said.