By KHT Staff. Screenshot from the Facebook page 台灣颱風論壇｜天氣特急.
KAOHSIUNG — A band of thunderstorms moved inland across southern Taiwan Friday afternoon, bringing heavy rain, lightning and strong gusts to parts of Kaohsiung and Pingtung.
The Central Weather Administration issued immediate thunderstorm alerts shortly after 1:30 p.m. for Daliao (大寮), Dashu (大樹) and Niaosong (鳥松) districts in Kaohsiung, along with Pingtung City and several surrounding townships.
The Kaohsiung and Pingtung alerts remained in effect until 2:31 p.m. A separate warning for Orchid Island (蘭嶼) in Taitung County expired five minutes later.
Those alerts were tied to individual thunderstorm cells and were no longer active by late Friday afternoon, according to the CWA’s immediate thunderstorm warning page.
Rainfall totals continued to rise after the alerts expired.
By late afternoon, the CWA had recorded 62 millimeters of rain at the Fengsen station in Siaogang District (小港), 57.5 millimeters in Daliao and 55 millimeters at Dahan Mountain (大漢山) in Pingtung.
The figures were included in the agency’s Friday rainfall summary.
Kaohsiung and Pingtung remained covered by a broader heavy-rain advisory Friday afternoon. The agency warned of short periods of heavy rain, lightning and strong gusts, with possible standing water in low-lying areas.
The unsettled weather is expected to continue into the weekend.
The CWA said southwest winds would strengthen Saturday, increasing both the area affected by rain and the amount of time it could continue. Southern Taiwan could experience intermittent showers or thunderstorms, localized heavy rain and brief but particularly intense downpours.
The Kaohsiung forecast calls for an 80 percent chance of rain Friday night, followed by further rain or thunderstorms Saturday. Pingtung is forecast to have rain or thunderstorms Saturday, with temperatures between 27 and 32 C.
Rain is expected to ease somewhat Sunday, although showers and thunderstorms will remain possible. A low-pressure system could bring another period of unstable weather across Taiwan from Monday.
Residents should continue checking current CWA warnings, particularly before traveling to mountainous areas, rivers or other places where water levels can rise quickly.
