TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan faces a week of increasingly heavy rainfall, with three weather fronts expected to bring widespread showers from Friday (April 3) through early next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA, 中央氣象署) said Tuesday (March 31). In the near term, meteorologists predicted brief showers or thunderstorms from Chiayi to the Greater Taipei area on Wednesday (April 1), with lighter precipitation in the south and east, including the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島).
The CWA said a series of weather systems arriving Friday will increase rainfall chances nationwide over the following several days. The three weather fronts will bring heavy rain to western and northeastern Taiwan on Saturday (April 4) and Sunday (April 5), with central and northern regions facing possible localized heavy showers. Rain-affected areas will expand on Monday (April 6), particularly in central and northern Taiwan, the agency said.
Meteorologist Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) from WeatherRisk (天氣風險), a private forecasting firm, said Chiayi and northern Taiwan will see brief showers on Wednesday. The northeast monsoon will bring scattered rain to Hualien, Taitung, and the Hengchun Peninsula on Thursday, with possible afternoon showers in central and southern mountain areas. A new front forming over southern China on Friday will push warmer, humid air toward Taiwan, Wu said.
TVBS meteorological consultant Cheng Ming-dean (鄭明典) said he has observed a "back-building squall line," a weather system known for its stationary nature and intense rainfall that can cause localized flooding. Cheng forecasted strong convective activity and the potential for short-term heavy rain on Wednesday across northern Taiwan. Such convective clouds often form in unstable atmospheric conditions, indicating the weather pattern is shifting, he said. ◼