The northern and northeastern parts of Taiwan saw only 45.1 hours of sunshine in the first two months of this year, according to the Central Weather Bureau (CWB) on Friday.

The amount of sunshine for the region from Jan. 1 to Feb. 23 was the lowest ever recorded, director of CWB’s Weather Forecast Center Lu Kuo-chen (???) said at a press conference.

The 45.1 hours of sunshine was less than half of the 127.2 hours experienced during the same period last year, Lu added.

Meanwhile, the 13 weather-monitoring stations across Taiwan recorded an average of 341.6 millimeters of rain this year up until Feb. 23, the second-highest number recorded since 1983, Lu said.

According to the CWB official, the number of rainy days that Taiwan experienced during this period was also the second-highest after 2016.

Data compiled from weather stations in Keelung, Yilan, Tamsui, and Taipei alone showed a total of 26.4 days of precipitation as of Feb. 23, he said.

With the La Niña weather pattern already beginning to weaken, Lu said Taiwan could expect stable temperatures this coming spring. However, the chances of rain could be lower than usual between March and April this year before the plum rain season begins in May.

At the event, Lu also warned that continental cold air masses could still reach Taiwan in March.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel