Northern Taiwan saw increased moisture on Sunday, with brief showers occurring in the north and northeast. The Central Weather Bureau says the rain may continue into Wednesday, with the heaviest precipitation occurring Monday morning. The mercury has also dropped, with the lowest temperature at only 7.4 degrees in Hsinchu Sunday morning. However, by Thursday the temperature will rise, with highs in northern regions hitting 23 to 25 degrees.

The rain once again returned to Northern Taiwan early Sunday morning. Coupled with the effects of radiative cooling in the western half of the island, the mercury came all the way down to 7.4 degrees in Hsinchu and 7.5 degrees in Miaoli. By noon, the temperature bounced back; Central and Southern Taiwan warmed up to 26 degrees and Northern Taiwan 20 to 22 degrees. But the warm spell will be short-lived. Increased moisture will bring rain to the north for yet another three days.

Chang Cheng-chuan
CWB forecaster
For today and tomorrow, the northeasterly winds will linger over the sea, bringing more moisture. The air will be more humid too. So we will see heavier rain along Keelung, the north coast and Yilan today and tomorrow. Accumulated rainfall may reach levels of heavy rain.

Moisture will reach a high level on Monday morning. Keelung, the north coast and the northeast may see heavy rains. Areas to the south of Hsinchu and Miaoli will experience the effects of radiative cooling, with a possible low of 14 degrees at dawn. On Tuesday, the northeast monsoon will strengthen again, but the cold gusts it brings will be dry and not as cold. Only the north and northeast will see scattered rain. The temperature will only go down by one to two degrees.

The northeast monsoon will weaken starting Thursday along with lowered moisture levels. Fair weather will return to most of the island then. By weekend temperatures may rise to 23 to 25 degrees in the north and around 27 degrees in the center and south.

Chang Cheng-chuan
CWB forecaster
In the next seven days, or even up to ten days, apart from a wave of smaller gusts of northeasterly winds on Tuesday and Wednesday, it will not be noticeably cold. The lows will stay at the winter average of around 17 to 18 degrees.

The weather will be more stable starting Thursday when the sun returns, giving people the opportunity to air their quilts. From Dec. 12 to 14, greater Taipei may experience rainfall as the northeast monsoon picks up again.