1,712mm of rainfall is highest monthly record since 1931
Kaohsiung has had a wet August. In fact, it was so rainy that 1931 was the last time Kaohsiung had this much rain in a single month. Starting Aug. 19, 13 days of wicked wet weather has made life difficult for both urban and rural areas, with trees and roadside slopes crashing down onto streets and new waterfalls being formed on mountains. Let’s see some of the footage.
In Kaohsiung, where rain is refusing to let up, this white car comes to a stop at the traffic light. The leaning roadside tree starts sagging even more, suddenly falling onto the car. The frightened scooter rider gets away from the tree, which didn’t injure the driver inside the car.
- How’d that happen? I thought something man-made had fallen down.
This close call happened a little after 6 am on Sept. 1 in Cianjhen District, at the intersection of Baotai Rd. and Gongzheng Rd. The falling tree incident did have two inanimate victims: in addition to the car that had stopped at the red light, a SUV parked on the roadside had its hood crushed by the tree trunk.
Chen Chin-hung
Kaohsiung Public Works Bureau
The constant rain during the last few days loosened the soil, which led to the tree toppling over.
Day after day of pouring rain created a fierce waterfall on Shoushan. Part of a slope bordering Highway 20 came crumbling down onto the pavement. In Jiaxian, on Sept. 1, starting at 9 in the morning, this road was closed until the completion of repair work, which took over an hour.
Torrential rain that started late at night soaked the hiking trail on Shoushan. From this angle, the water rushing down next to these steps looked like a surging stream.
Some of the drainage system is clogged, causing yellowish muddy water that makes the already wet pavement even more slippery.
People are wondering if the rainy weather is ever going to take a break. According to data from the Kaohsiung Weather Station, several monthly precipitation records were broken this August, such as there being 18 total days with rain, and starting on Aug. 19 there were 13 days of consecutive rain. In Augusts of the past, Kaohsiung averaged 450mm of precipitation, but the total figure for this year’s eighth month is almost quadruple the average. Annually, Kaohsiung receives 1,839mm of rainfall on average, meaning the 1,712mm in August is essentially enough rain for one year.
Tsai Tsung-hua
Kaohsiung Weather Station
The accumulated rain this August is the highest in a single month since 1931.
The total rain this August may rival annual averages, yet, unfortunately for Kaohsiung, September is here but the rain hasn’t gone away, so all people can do is hope that mother nature doesn’t produce another disaster.
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2026-09-01
