Taipei: Taiwan's highest mountain Yushan (Mt. Jade) and other mountainous areas to its north were hit by snow early Tuesday morning due to the influence of a strong cold air mass affecting the region.
According to Focus Taiwan, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency branch in Nantou County reported that Hehuanshan, one of the county's highest mountains, received roughly 6 centimeters of snow in the morning.
Other nearby areas, including Wuling, which is 3,275 meters above sea level, also experienced snowfall. Snow was reported to cover Taitung's Chiaming Lake on Tuesday. The Yushan Weather Station noted that as of 8 a.m., 1 cm of snow had been recorded on the 3,952-meter Yushan, located on the border of Nantou, Chiayi, and Kaohsiung, while a low of minus 2.6 degrees Celsius was observed at 5:29 a.m.
Paiyun Lodge in Yushan National Park and Huagang in Nantou County's Ren'ai Township (2,400 meters) also saw snow. The Yushan National Park Headquarters stated that snow pellets began falling on Paiyun Lodge on Monday night before turning into snow early Tuesday.
Snowfall was additionally observed in Lalashan in Taoyuan's Fuxing District, the Lake Jiaming National Trail in Taitung County, and Jianshih Township in Hsinchu County. Due to the snowfall, Hsinchu County's Department of Personnel announced school closures for Hsin Kwang Elementary School in Jianshih Township on Tuesday.
The cold air mass has also brought chilly weather, prompting the Central Weather Administration (CWA) to issue low temperature alerts for several areas in northern and central Taiwan. The affected regions include New Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu County, Miaoli County, Taichung City, and Yilan County, where minimum ground-level temperatures could drop below 10 degrees, or even below 6 degrees in some areas, according to forecasters.
Miaoli County's Sanwan Township recorded the nation's lowest temperature in a low-lying area on Tuesday morning at 8.9 degrees, followed by 9 degrees in New Taipei's Shiding District and 9.4 degrees in Hsinchu County's Guanxi Township. The CWA indicated that daytime highs on Tuesday are forecast to remain at roughly 16-17 degrees in the north and 18-21 degrees in central Taiwan and Taitung County in the east.
Another cold air system is expected to move into Taiwan, causing temperatures to gradually decrease further at night. Additionally, a southwest cloud system moving eastward is forecast to bring brief showers across mountainous areas and parts of Hualien and Taitung in the east during the day.