TAIPEI (TVBS News) — The Central Weather Administration (CWA, 氣象署), Taiwan's national meteorological agency, issued a severe thunderstorm alert on Tuesday (Aug. 5) for the greater Taipei metropolitan area and Keelung City, warning residents to prepare for dangerous lightning strikes and powerful wind gusts. Former CWA Director-General Cheng Ming-dean (鄭明典) provided scientific context through his Facebook analysis, explaining that converging southerly wind patterns across northern Taiwan triggered intense afternoon convective activity within the densely populated Taipei Basin.
WeatherRisk Explore Inc. (天氣風險公司), a prominent private weather forecasting company, documented an extraordinary 440 lightning strikes per minute during the afternoon storm through their Facebook monitoring system. The Central Weather Administration maintained active heavy rain advisories, warning that Taipei City and New Taipei City faced imminent risks of localized torrential downpours. Coastal areas of Keelung and Yilan, along with mountainous terrain in Taoyuan and Hsinchu counties, remained under similar localized heavy rainfall threats.
Emergency management authorities activated mountain flood disaster prevention protocols for three critical waterways: Beishi River (北勢溪) and Beigang River (北港溪) in New Taipei City, plus Shuang River (雙溪) in Taipei City. Officials strongly advised residents to evacuate riverside areas immediately. Rainfall measurements recorded on the CWA's monitoring network reached 107 millimeters (4.2 inches) in Taipei City's Wenshan (文山) District and 97.5 millimeters (3.8 inches) in New Taipei City's Xindian (新店) District by 1 p.m. on Tuesday (Aug. 5). ◼