Heavy rain warning issued for northern, northeastern Taiwan

Taipei, Sept. 4 (CNA) The Central Weather Administration (CWA) issued extremely heavy rain advisories Friday for Keelung, parts of New Taipei along the northern coast, and the northern half of Taipei, and heavy rain advisories for other parts of northern Taiwan.

The "extremely heavy rain" warning for Taiwan's northern coast indicates at least 200 mm of rainfall in 24 hours or 100 mm in three hours.

The CWA also issued "heavy rain" advisories, defined as accumulated rainfall of at least 80 millimeters in 24 hours or 40 mm in one hour, for the southern half of Taipei, most of New Taipei, Taoyuan, and Yilan County.

People should be aware of the possibility of lightning and strong gusts throughout the day, the CWA said.

The weather agency warned of possible landslides, falling rocks and sudden rises in river levels in mountainous areas across Taiwan, especially given the persistent rain over the past few days, and of flooding in low-lying areas.

As of 10:40 a.m., more than 150 mm of rainfall had accumulated at weather stations in Jinshan and Shimen in New Taipei and Nuannuan and Qidu in Keelung City since midnight Thursday, the highest recorded totals anywhere in Taiwan over the nearly 11-hour period.

Meanwhile, independent weather expert Wu Der-rong (吳德榮) said northern and eastern Taiwan will see intermittent rain through Sunday, with thunderstorms possible in the afternoon.

The weather will generally improve from next Monday to Thursday, especially in southern Taiwan, as a large low-pressure system is expected to shift east of Taiwan, leading to the arrival of northeasterly winds, Wu said.

Northern and eastern Taiwan will be mostly cloudy with occasional showers, while southwestern Taiwan will be mostly sunny to partly cloudy during that period, a welcome relief after an extended run of rainy weather, he said.