The Taiwan Weather Thread

Taiwan Living in Taiwan
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1

Discussing the intricacies of the weather is something that is best confined to consenting adults - i get that - but as i can’t find enough of those in real life, i thought i would try here.

Obviously, typhoons are the headline grabbers, but for those into the nitty gritty of all the other weather that Taiwan throws up, then it would be great if you could contribute.

Anyway, Taidong, and other parts of Taiwan, are currently going through an extreme dry spell. I’d love to know what the record is (can’t find the stats), but we are now over 7 weeks without rain. The longest i’ve seen it go without rain before is 3 weeks. And despite two typhoons making landfall in Taidong, we are down 500mm on the yearly rainfall ave.

2

Been a very dry autumn too in Hualien. Often October is wet and dreary here, last few years we’ve had rainfall of:
2010 - 629mm
2011 - 487mm
2012 - 182mm
2013 - 175mm

This year, 2014 = just 33mm.

Not that I’m complaining, it was a wonderful autumn.
The last couple of days have seen a return to type, misty and soggy conditions. Plenty of rain here and down south in the HuaDong valley.

3

[quote=“Nuit”]Been a very dry autumn too in Hualian. Often October is wet and dreary here, last few years we’ve had rainfall of:
2010 - 629mm
2011 - 487mm
2012 - 182mm
2013 - 175mm

This year, 2014 = just 33mm.

Not that I’m complaining, it was a wonderful autumn.
The last couple of days have seen a return to type, misty and soggy conditions. Plenty of rain here and down south in the HuaDong valley.[/quote]

Yeah, it’s been nice weather, and the dong bei ji fong has been quite moderate apart from an initial 10-day blast, but i’m still complaining. Taidong is actually a pretty dry old place, and without rain i need to waste time watering plants, plus all my tanks are dry. We did get 5mil last night, so that’s something.

I see the ave for Oct in Hualien is 362mm, so 33mm is way down. Su Ao had 151mm in Oct, which sounds like a lot, until you see their ave for Oct is a whopping 744mil.

4

I think this autumn weather though makes up for some pretty rubbish autumns in previous years, but I do understand the gardener’s needs.

Mountains wreathed in swirling cloud again up here today - I’m getting interested in how this kind of wet weather around Hualien persists as you head down the HuaDong. We’re taking a road trip this weekend down to Chishang : there’s often a point south of Ruisui where there’s an abrupt change.

You being on the coast though, and not in the valley, must get a different set of weather completely.

5

I soooo much want to go to Chishang. Take a lot of pics for Icon, please. :smiley:

I am a bit concerned at how cold it got so suddenly, and I think that prediction of a colder than average winter will come true. My pals and schoolmates in Colorado and Minnesota are already finding it hard to drive through the snow … and there is a long way to go.

Rain and cool weather in autumn is Okish.

Last night was a 4 cat night in the Icon household.

6

[quote=“Nuit”]I think this autumn weather though makes up for some pretty rubbish autumns in previous years, but I do understand the gardener’s needs.

Mountains wreathed in swirling cloud again up here today - I’m getting interested in how this kind of wet weather around Hualian persists as you head down the HuaDong. We’re taking a road trip this weekend down to Chishang : there’s often a point south of Ruisui where there’s an abrupt change.

You being on the coast though, and not in the valley, must get a different set of weather completely.[/quote]

This rainfall image reinforces exactly what you are talking about. Seems to hug the boundaries of hualien almost exactly. Assume it’s to do with the coastal range.

The ‘swirling clouds’ sound nice, though your probably sick of the sight of them. Enjoy your trip to Chishang.

7

You’ve never been? It would be a nice place to chill as an old person, I think.

8

You’ve never been? It would be a nice place to chill as an old person, I think.[/quote]

You calling me old? How long have you been married, sir? You should never mention age to a lady! :rant:

:nyah: :laughing:

Icon works very hard to feed six mouths and hence has little time to look around this beautiful isle of ours. And if she does, she cannot bear to leave her fur children alone. So travel now, you young folk, rain or shine, as later on, you’d need a camper to carry the family along! :grandpa:

9

You’ve never been? It would be a nice place to chill as an old person, I think.[/quote]

I’m pretty old, but have never been there. What are the attractions?

10

… I definitely meant it would be a good place to retire. Icon, no need to take it personally now.

Hmm… it’s a typical little town but I feel it’s done a better job at preserving a sense of local community and identity than towns in many other places, including in Hualien. But I feel weird telling a Taitung resident what Taitung has to offer…

I’ve only been once and the distinct impression I got is that it’s under threat from a huge influx of tourists it is not ready to bear. But isn’t that true of most of Taiwan?

11

[quote=“Hokwongwei”]
I’ve only been once and the distinct impression I got is that it’s under threat from a huge influx of tourists it is not ready to bear. But isn’t that true of most of Taiwan?[/quote]

Yeah, as you say, it’s definitely happening and it boils down to how the influx is managed.It can’t be just unfettered slather.

Many small businesses make welcome money off the tourist trade and i’m one of them - and i love them. They come, they’re in a good mood, they have a good time, they spend their money at local businesses, the bars liven up, and then they go away again. I think it’s a great industry. If properly managed.

But that’s your independent tourist.

The tour bus hordes, on the other hand, spend all their money at specific hotels and the tour companies. In fact there may be a net drain on the local economy given the money spent to maintain toilet facilities and garbage collection and repairing the stuff they’ve trampled on.

Meanwhile, we had the Hualien mist going today, though the clouds were not wreathing quite as poetically on the mountains as nuit depicted them.

12

Good thread idea. Something that may be of use (for those that don’t know already) is the climate statistics page over at the Central Weather Bureau site.

cwb.gov.tw/V7e/climate/daily … ion/dP.htm

Lots of stats going back quite a few years, so you can compare for yourselves if this (insert season) is actually the (hottest/wettest/coldest/etc.) ever. :wink:

13

ThanksTM. I did write to CWB a couple of years back asking for stats and they sent me a ranking of the driest to wettest oct in Taidong for the last 100 years - though i haven’t worked out if there’s a way to access that resource without going through them. Since then, they’ve recorded 6mm in 2013 and 16mm in 2014 (though only 1mm where i live). That means 6 of the top 20 driest years on record have occured since 2001. And 4 of the driest 6 years have occured since 2001.

1998 was the wettest, with over 1000mm - we’d have to ask Robert Storey about that one.

1 Taitung 2004 2.0
2 Taitung 1982 3.9
2 Taitung 2002 3.9
4 Taitung 1902 5.7
4 Taitung 2001 5.7
6 Taitung 1921 6.7
7 Taitung 1993 8.5
8 Taitung 1930 9.1
9 Taitung 1936 10.4
10 Taitung 1913 13.3
11 Taitung 1944 13.8
12 Taitung 1929 14.0
13 Taitung 1928 14.2
14 Taitung 1963 14.8
15 Taitung 1952 15.7
16 Taitung 1972 19.8
17 Taitung 1992 22.1
18 Taitung 2006 25.7
19 Taitung 1994 26.6
20 Taitung 1925 26.9
21 Taitung 1905 29.5
22 Taitung 1956 30.9
23 Taitung 1989 33.9
24 Taitung 1986 34.3
25 Taitung 1961 39.0
26 Taitung 1997 40.5
27 Taitung 1914 41.0
28 Taitung 1980 41.8
29 Taitung 1923 41.9
30 Taitung 1966 42.6
31 Taitung 1911 46.8
32 Taitung 1910 48.3
33 Taitung 1985 48.7
34 Taitung 1957 50.2
35 Taitung 1977 53.0
36 Taitung 1946 54.6
37 Taitung 1904 54.7
38 Taitung 1943 56.2
39 Taitung 1981 57.3
40 Taitung 1976 59.7
41 Taitung 1995 65.5
42 Taitung 1935 65.6
43 Taitung 1940 66.7
44 Taitung 1990 69.3
45 Taitung 1927 77.7
46 Taitung 1965 81.5
47 Taitung 1979 83.2
48 Taitung 1942 83.4
49 Taitung 1954 86.7
50 Taitung 1907 88.5
51 Taitung 1958 88.7
52 Taitung 1948 89.9
53 Taitung 1959 91.4
54 Taitung 2007 95.3
55 Taitung 2005 100.4
56 Taitung 1955 112.7
57 Taitung 1960 113.1
58 Taitung 1920 119.5
59 Taitung 1933 119.7
60 Taitung 2003 125.0
61 Taitung 1951 126.1
62 Taitung 2008 131.8
63 Taitung 1941 140.5
64 Taitung 1969 142.8
65 Taitung 1934 147.4
66 Taitung 1917 150.2
67 Taitung 1962 152.1
68 Taitung 2009 155.2
69 Taitung 1922 158.6
70 Taitung 1919 169.4
71 Taitung 1938 176.1
72 Taitung 1906 194.1
73 Taitung 1953 198.6
74 Taitung 1983 199.5
75 Taitung 1937 205.9
76 Taitung 1984 210.2
77 Taitung 1931 235.5
78 Taitung 1967 249.2
79 Taitung 1978 262.7
80 Taitung 1908 265.9
81 Taitung 1971 290.2
82 Taitung 1947 292.0
83 Taitung 1909 295.4
84 Taitung 1926 296.3
85 Taitung 1975 311.2
86 Taitung 1912 315.9
87 Taitung 1987 325.3
88 Taitung 1996 333.4
89 Taitung 1939 353.1
90 Taitung 1968 360.1
91 Taitung 1970 387.4
92 Taitung 2011 404.6
93 Taitung 1949 405.7
94 Taitung 1950 406.7
95 Taitung 1932 414.1
96 Taitung 1901 414.3
97 Taitung 1916 421.5
98 Taitung 1915 424.5
99 Taitung 1991 427.0
100 Taitung 1999 432.8
101 Taitung 1924 447.4
102 Taitung 1988 454.4
103 Taitung 1945 470.8
104 Taitung 1918 492.6
105 Taitung 2000 499.8
106 Taitung 2010 503.8
107 Taitung 1964 514.4
108 Taitung 1903 581.1
109 Taitung 1973 764.2
110 Taitung 1974 872.8
111 Taitung 1998 1027.9

14

Imagine Typhoon Zeb was responsible for much of that 1998 total.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon_Zeb

Short on rain, and short on typhoons this year. I remember the year before I arrived there were three powerful typhoons which hit Hualien almost head on. Now I can’t remember the last time we cowered in the basement as a family.

15

Question: is this going to be a more serious business end of the yearly “It’s cold and I hate this weather” rant? Should I take my personal complaints about frozen toes elsewhere?

My neighbors tell me this autumn feels normal, whatever that means. I don’t recall such a cool weather this time of the year, but sincerely, lately temperatures have been all over the place - last year it was 30 some degrees in December, right? Weather is crazy, man.

16

As my father used to say, ‘Everyone complains about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.’

The goal of this thread is to actually do somethhing about it. Haven’t figured out the hows, whys and wherefores yet, but we’ll work on that as we go.

Meanwhile your frozen toes are very welcome here. Mid-Nov often seems to mark a dramatic change in the weather. It’s when the coldfronts start moving down from the north west.

17

[quote=“dulan drift”]ThanksTM. I did write to CWB a couple of years back asking for stats and they sent me a ranking of the driest to wettest oct in Taidong for the last 100 years - though i haven’t worked out if there’s a way to access that resource without going through them. Since then, they’ve recorded 6mm in 2013 and 16mm in 2014 (though only 1mm where i live). That means 6 of the top 20 driest years on record have occured since 2001. And 4 of the driest 6 years have occured since 2001.

1998 was the wettest, with over 1000mm - we’d have to ask Robert Storey about that one.

1 Taitung 2004 2.0
2 Taitung 1982 3.9
2 Taitung 2002 3.9
4 Taitung 1902 5.7
4 Taitung 2001 5.7
6 Taitung 1921 6.7
7 Taitung 1993 8.5
8 Taitung 1930 9.1
9 Taitung 1936 10.4
10 Taitung 1913 13.3
11 Taitung 1944 13.8
12 Taitung 1929 14.0
13 Taitung 1928 14.2
14 Taitung 1963 14.8
15 Taitung 1952 15.7
16 Taitung 1972 19.8
17 Taitung 1992 22.1
18 Taitung 2006 25.7
19 Taitung 1994 26.6
20 Taitung 1925 26.9
21 Taitung 1905 29.5
22 Taitung 1956 30.9
23 Taitung 1989 33.9
24 Taitung 1986 34.3
25 Taitung 1961 39.0
26 Taitung 1997 40.5
27 Taitung 1914 41.0
28 Taitung 1980 41.8
29 Taitung 1923 41.9
30 Taitung 1966 42.6
31 Taitung 1911 46.8
32 Taitung 1910 48.3
33 Taitung 1985 48.7
34 Taitung 1957 50.2
35 Taitung 1977 53.0
36 Taitung 1946 54.6
37 Taitung 1904 54.7
38 Taitung 1943 56.2
39 Taitung 1981 57.3
40 Taitung 1976 59.7
41 Taitung 1995 65.5
42 Taitung 1935 65.6
43 Taitung 1940 66.7
44 Taitung 1990 69.3
45 Taitung 1927 77.7
46 Taitung 1965 81.5
47 Taitung 1979 83.2
48 Taitung 1942 83.4
49 Taitung 1954 86.7
50 Taitung 1907 88.5
51 Taitung 1958 88.7
52 Taitung 1948 89.9
53 Taitung 1959 91.4
54 Taitung 2007 95.3
55 Taitung 2005 100.4
56 Taitung 1955 112.7
57 Taitung 1960 113.1
58 Taitung 1920 119.5
59 Taitung 1933 119.7
60 Taitung 2003 125.0
61 Taitung 1951 126.1
62 Taitung 2008 131.8
63 Taitung 1941 140.5
64 Taitung 1969 142.8
65 Taitung 1934 147.4
66 Taitung 1917 150.2
67 Taitung 1962 152.1
68 Taitung 2009 155.2
69 Taitung 1922 158.6
70 Taitung 1919 169.4
71 Taitung 1938 176.1
72 Taitung 1906 194.1
73 Taitung 1953 198.6
74 Taitung 1983 199.5
75 Taitung 1937 205.9
76 Taitung 1984 210.2
77 Taitung 1931 235.5
78 Taitung 1967 249.2
79 Taitung 1978 262.7
80 Taitung 1908 265.9
81 Taitung 1971 290.2
82 Taitung 1947 292.0
83 Taitung 1909 295.4
84 Taitung 1926 296.3
85 Taitung 1975 311.2
86 Taitung 1912 315.9
87 Taitung 1987 325.3
88 Taitung 1996 333.4
89 Taitung 1939 353.1
90 Taitung 1968 360.1
91 Taitung 1970 387.4
92 Taitung 2011 404.6
93 Taitung 1949 405.7
94 Taitung 1950 406.7
95 Taitung 1932 414.1
96 Taitung 1901 414.3
97 Taitung 1916 421.5
98 Taitung 1915 424.5
99 Taitung 1991 427.0
100 Taitung 1999 432.8
101 Taitung 1924 447.4
102 Taitung 1988 454.4
103 Taitung 1945 470.8
104 Taitung 1918 492.6
105 Taitung 2000 499.8
106 Taitung 2010 503.8
107 Taitung 1964 514.4
108 Taitung 1903 581.1
109 Taitung 1973 764.2
110 Taitung 1974 872.8
111 Taitung 1998 1027.9[/quote]

Is there a definite downward spiral? Seems so.

18

Yeah, and it does impact the farmers around here. Usually people are trying to get their winter crops (the main time for growing vegetables) in during October - ideally following a big autumn rain - but that’s gone missing and the ground is like cement. Is that climate change? i’m not an expert on that, though that doesn’t seem to stop lots of other commentators, but it is climate change in terms of the climate has changed, in the last 13 years at least. It’s gotten significantly drier, and hotter (i think. Either that or i’ve gotten older and don’t handle the heat as well. Possibly both.).

And if that is it, then i don’t like it. I want the dial turned back to cooler and more regular rains. As do the farmers.

But it looks like we are in for some rain today. CWB has us (and Taipei) at 30% pop but the radar says different.

19

I have been hoping for a decent storm all fall in Kaohsiung since we get almost zero rain from December until the end of April but it looks like it will be a dry winter.

20

One thing that has always fascinated me is there is a distinct weather boundary at the border of Taichung and Miaoli county. I can’t count the number of times I’ve driven North to Miaoli from sunny Taichung and from Sanyi it could be cloudy or even raining! It’s something to do with the mountain range there I think.