Mercury in southern Taiwan forecast to hit 32°C Wednesday

Taipei, Nov. 5 (CNA) Daytime temperatures could hit as high as 32 degrees Celsius in southern Taiwan on Wednesday as partly cloudy to sunny skies prevail, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA).

In contrast with cooler weather conditions in the north amid sporadic rain, the CWA said daytime highs in Kaohsiung City and Pingtung County in the south will hit 31-32 degrees.

Moisture from seasonal northeasterly winds is expected to bring brief showers to parts of northern and eastern Taiwan on Wednesday with temperatures forecast to reach 20-25 degrees in those areas throughout the day, the CWA said.

The CWA has issued a heavy rain alert for Keelung and New Taipei, indicating at least 80 millimeters of rain in 24 hours or 40 millimeters in one hour. The warning is expected to stay in effect into late Wednesday morning.

A tropical depression, which was located 2,800 kilometers east-southeast of Cape Eluanpi, Taiwan's southernmost point, as of 2 a.m. Wednesday, could become Tropical Storm Fung Wong later in the day, the CWA said.

The CWA said the weather system is moving in a northwest to west-northwest direction and is expected to reach Luzon, the largest island of the Philippines, next week and will likely affect Taiwan's weather.

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

Parts of Kaohsiung and Pingtung were under an "orange" alert, however, warning of unhealthy conditions for sensitive groups such as children, the elderly, and people with respiratory or heart problems, the ministry said.