WEATHER & NATURAL EVENTS
The Tropic of Cancer passes through Taiwan. In most areas of the world you will find deserts at that latitude. China, India, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Libya, Algeria, Morocco, and Mexico are all examples of such deserts.
Since Taiwan is an island, the weather here is much more tropical than one would expect at this latitude. The weather resembles the weather of most of the smaller Caribbean Islands.
May - October are hot and humid. During these months, many afternoons bring large rainstorms. Usually the storms are brief, but they are often bring lots of rain. The ground is usually dry by evening.
December - March are a short winter. The cities never have snow, but the central mountains get quite a bit during these months. It often rains for days and days and days during the winter.
Summer temperatures are usually over 90F.
Winter temperatures can reach as low as 40F.
You think Seattle gets a lot of rain?
It rains about 150 days a year in Seattle...
It rains over 200 days a year in Taipei...
WEATHER INFORMATIONThe Taiwan Central Weather Bureau has an excellent website.
May through October is "Typhoon Season". A typhoon is the same thing as a hurricane. Typhoons start in the Pacific Ocean north of the equator and pick up energy as they make their way west. There are several typhoons in the Pacific each year, but only a few threaten Taiwan directly.
Our apartment buildings are quite safe during a typhoon, but water seeps in through the windows and walls. The high winds also rattle the windows.
We try to prepare for typhoons by:
- making sure we have bread, milk, and drinking water
- pulling furniture away from areas that we know are likely to leak
- getting rest when we can so we can mop during the night if we need to
- renting a movie or two since we may not be able to go out for a while
Here is where things get exciting. At least with typhoons and the regular weather, you can see when it is coming. Earthquakes are 100% unpredictable. There are a few things in life that you expect to be constant... solid ground is one of them.
Earthquakes are very common in Taiwan. There are usually dozens of earthquakes in Taiwan each month. Many are over 5.0 on the Richter Scale.
We do not live in fear of earthquakes, but we try not to forget the damage they can bring. The possibility of earthquakes effect the way we spend our time and the way we decorate our apartment.
Earthquakes are a very clear reminder that our Creator has more power than we will ever understand.
You can click the following links for details of some major earthquakes since we have been in Taiwan. (The links will become active after we create the pages)
March 31, 2001 - 6.8
September 21, 1999 - 7.2