Parts of southern Taiwan received nearly 200 cm of rain
Taipei: According to the Central Weather Administration (CWA), around 200 cm of rain fell in portions of southern Taiwan between Monday of last week and Sunday at 9 a.m., as reported by the Taipei Times.
The Taipei Times cited CWA data that showed total rainfall of 2,205 mm in Kaohsiung’s Taoyuan District, 2,060.5 mm in Sandimen Township, Pingtung County, and 1,833 mm in Nanhua District, Tainan.
In the meanwhile, 1,688 mm of rain fell in Chiayi County’s Alishan, and 1,025 mm fell in Caoling, Yunlin County.
According to the Pingtung County Government, 831 people have been evacuated from hilly regions in advance. There are 255 people in shelters and 576 people sleeping with relatives in low-lying regions.
Chu Mei-lin, a CWA forecaster, said that the heavy rainfall in southern Taiwan is caused by three things.
The first is the influence of consecutive southwestern air currents that originated over the ocean and traveled inland, affecting Penghu County and the western part of Taiwan proper.
Second, rain was caused by unstable air that was pushed in by southwesterly winds and turned into convection currents over land.
According to Chu, the third factor was orographic rainfall, which resulted in heavy rain in the hilly regions of southern Taiwan as a result of southwesterly winds blowing into the region.
According to the Taipei Times, orographic rain is created when humid air climbs over a mountain range, cools as it does so, and forms clouds that generate rain upwind of the mountain ridge.
According to Chu, Taiwan has been experiencing consistent southwesterly winds since late July due to a large-scale low-pressure system.
According to her, the heavy rains peaked once last week, from Monday to Thursday, and again over the weekend.
Precipitation advisories are in effect through Sunday and Monday, according to the CWA.
According to the CWA, mountainous areas in Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Pingtung County are expected to experience extreme torrential rain warnings, with cumulative rainfall reaching 500mm in a 24-hour period.