Funnel out to sea in Hualien

A friend of mine sent me this pic he took of a funnel forming out to sea off Hualien.
_______________________
[Taiwan] Don't miss the comments below! And check out my blog and its sidebars for events, links to previous posts and picture posts, and scores of links to other Taiwan blogs and forums!

Rain Rain Go Away =UPDATED=X4 + TYPHOON BONUS YAY!

From my FB friends: Chungli train station after several days of rain. 

Wow. After several days of rain, the island is a sponge, with more still to come. In the south, where 60 cm of rain has fallen in the last 24 hours, schools and other organizations are closed, including major universities. In New Taipei City, schools below the college level are closed. UPDATED: Facebook and reader comments indicate business closings all over Taipei.

Since this post is several days old, I've moved everything below the READ MORE link....

Tornado over Tainan

Freak tornadoes do occur in Taiwan, and one hit Tainan the other night. I was actually staying overnight down there and I remember thinking how odd the wind was as I lay down to sleep. Little did I know....

A rare tornado hit Tainan county, southern Taiwan, at 1:40 a.m. Wednesday, blowing away the roofs of more than 20 houses and toppling electric-wire poles, trees and even a container weighing over 7,000 kilograms, but leaving no one injured, according to the Tainan county government officials.

....

But a Central Weather Bureau (CWB) official said that such a powerful tornado had hit Taiwan some three to four years ago, also in the spring, when volatile cold front systems tend to be accompanied by unusually drastic weather changes, including thunders, torrential rain and strong gusts of wind.

....

Meanwhile, Tainan county government officials said that although nobody was hurt by the tornado, many pigs died as they were blown to the air and then fell to the ground.

[Taiwan] [Tainan] [tornadoes]