Taipei: Snow fell in mountainous areas of northern, central, and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of Monday as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow began falling at around 6 a.m. in the Fuxing District, as reported by district head Su Tso-hsi.
According to Focus Taiwan, by 10 a.m., areas including the Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing, Sanguang, and Gaoyi boroughs, had experienced snowfall. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County recorded snowfall of 5 centimeters and 6 centimeters, respectively, by the same time, according to staff members.
Meanwhile, snow began to fall on Yushan North Peak, also located in Nantou County, at around 9:20 a.m. with temperatures dropping to minus five degrees Celsius. In the eastern county of Taitung, the Lake Jiaming Trail was blanketed with snow by noon following early morning snowfall, according to a local mountaineering group.
In Yilan County, soft hail was reported at around 5 a.m. in the Taipingshan National Forest Recreation Area, where temperatures reached zero degrees Celsius, as noted by staff. The cold spell is predicted to lower temperatures to below 10 degrees Celsius across Taiwan proper from Monday night through January 30 before weakening on January 31, when warmer weather is expected, meteorologist Wu Der-rong stated Monday.