Plum rains replenish reservoirs, sunny weekend ahead

Plum rains replenish reservoirs, sunny weekend ahead

2024-05-01

The season’s first plum rain front has arrived. Showers were seen nationwide, and will persist until the front tapers off on Friday. This weekend is expected to be sunny and mostly clear in many parts of the island. But don’t get too comfortable, because the fair weather won’t last long.

Tseng Chao-cheng
CWA forecaster
From tonight through tomorrow, we’ll see a good deal of rain from this front that’s sweeping in from the Taiwan Strait onto the land. Along coastal areas in the west, there will be significant rainfall. Along the greater Keelung area, Yilan, and Hualien, expect persistent rainfall from tonight through tomorrow. On May 6 and 7, that is, next Monday and Tuesday, another front will approach, making the weather a bit more unstable and bringing the chance of afternoon thunderstorms. That’s something to watch out for.

The rains have brought welcome relief to reservoirs. According to the Water Resources Agency, Shihmen Reservoir gained 7.5 million tons of water between Tuesday and Wednesday. The first and second Baoshan reservoirs in Hsinchu are on track to top up by 2.6 million tons. Officials say the end to the drought is in sight, so long as the rains keep falling over catchment areas.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Sun to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
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首波梅雨鋒面報到! 全台水庫大補水週五雨勢趨緩

2024-05-01

今年梅雨季首波鋒面報到，今明兩天，是降雨最明顯的時間，週五鋒面逐漸遠離後，雨勢才會趨緩，周末兩天各地大多是多雲到晴天氣，不過好天氣只會維持短短兩天。

[[氣象署預報員曾昭誠]]
“今天晚上到明天白天，我們可以看到，整體的降雨比較多都是屬於這種，海峽上移進來陸地上的這些降雨，所以可以看到在西半部的沿海地區，都有比較明顯降雨的這個分布，另外是我們可以看到，在基隆北海岸，宜蘭，花蓮，從今天晚上到明天白天，仍然都是有一些降雨會在這邊發生的。5/6到5/7，就下禮拜一，下禮拜二，另外一波鋒面接近，所以台灣各地的天氣，又會變得比較不穩定一點點，午後雷陣雨可能也會變得比較明顯，所以這個就是要大家，特別留意的部分”

石門水庫集水區午後雨勢不斷，水利署統計從4/30到5/1清晨，累積降雨已達32.6毫米、蓄水量回升0.57%，預估能增加750萬噸水量，新竹的寶山及寶二水庫也可望增加約260萬噸水量，只要雨持續下在集水區，就可望再替水庫解渴。

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The Washington-based German Marshall Fund held a seminar on Monday. U.S. deputy assistant secretary Mark Lambert accused Beijing of misusing Resolution 2758.

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This is the fifth time the U.S. government has expressed strong opposition to the resolution’s distortion. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs sincerely welcomes and appreciates these statements. Resolution 2758 only resolves the issue of China’s representation in the U.N. It does not mention Taiwan or define it as part of the PRC.

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Do you know which bus route in Taiwan is the most popular? New figures show that one bus route in greater Taipei served a staggering 15 million journeys last year. It would seem that the 307 is the king of buses. Its nearest rival lags way behind. But what is so irresistible about this route? And where does its popularity fit in with wider public transportation trends? It’s time for the lowdown on Taipei’s buses.

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The route of this 307 bus is 49 kilometers long. It runs from New Taipei into central Taipei City. That’s why, for several years in a row, it’s been the highest-earning bus on the network.

Figures from Taipei City Public Transportation Office show that in 2023, the bus route that served the largest number of single journeys was the 307. More than 15 million journeys were made on the route in 2023, earning the operator NT$350 million. It’s the only bus in Taiwan that served more than 10 million journeys that year.

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The main route of the 307 is from Banqiao, Zhonghe, to Wanhua, and then to Songshan. It serves many students and commuters. It also passes by shopping centers and the Taipei Arena. Sometimes there are huge numbers of passengers when there are special events. Right now, on an average weekday rush hour, the bus comes every three to five minutes.

There are currently 59 vehicles running the 307 route. More than half have already been converted to electric. Since the pandemic, overall bus ridership levels in Taipei have been slowly returning to their previous norm.

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We still haven’t recovered the number of passengers that we had before the pandemic. We’re at about 90% of pre-pandemic levels.

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Taipei City has a dense bus network, and navigating it can be daunting. Riders say that one big hurdle is the tiny notices that go up when there are changes to bus schedules and frequency.

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Taipei’s National Taxation Bureau is packed with people. May is tax season, and many were eager to file on the first day.

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Today was just like the other times. There are always a lot of people here on May 1. But the whole process was quite fast, it took about an hour. I’m always afraid of forgetting to do it, so even though we have a whole month, I file my taxes early, to get it done sooner.

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