Cold air mass to continue, send mercury down to 10°C overnight

Taipei, March 13 (CNA) An ongoing continental cold air mass is again expected to push down temperatures in Taiwan on Friday night and into Saturday morning to as low as 10 degrees Celsius, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA).

The CWA has issued a "yellow" cold surge advisory for parts of Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Taichung, Changhua, Nantou, Yunlin, Chiayi, Tainan, Kaohsiung, Yilan and Hualien, meaning that they could see temperatures in low-lying areas dip below 10 degrees.

Radiative cooling effects -- when the ground releases heat into the atmosphere under clear skies -- are expected to continue to combine with the cold air mass to keep Taiwan chilly.

Temperatures plunged well below 10 degrees early Friday morning as the cold air mass hit. The lowest temperatures recorded in low-lying areas around Taiwan were 7.1 degrees in Gukeng Township in Yunlin County and 7.4 degrees in Hualien County's Xiulin Township, CWA data showed.

In the daytime Friday, temperatures will hit 17-18 degrees in the north and northeast, 23-24 degrees in central and southern Taiwan, and 20-22 degrees in the east, with partly cloudy to sunny skies around most of the island, the CWA said.

Citing a European model, independent meteorologist Wu Der-rong (吳德榮) said a high pressure system is expected to cause dry weather conditions around Taiwan on Friday.

He said the ongoing cold air mass is expected to continue into early Saturday morning and agreed with the CWA that temperatures were likely to hover around 10 degrees in low-lying areas around Taiwan.

The cold air mass will start to weaken Saturday, Wu said, pushing up temperatures during the day to bring comfortable weather to northern Taiwan and warmer weather conditions in central and southern Taiwan through Sunday.

Wu said the high pressure system is expected to push temperatures higher from Monday through Thursday, while moisture in the air is likely to increase in the east, leading to sporadic showers.