Flights disrupted by thunderstorms in Taipei, poor visibility in Matsu

Taipei, May 18 (CNA) Domestic and regional flights around Taiwan were delayed Sunday afternoon as Taipei Songshan Airport briefly halted ground operations due to thunderstorms and airports in the Matsu Islands were temporarily shut down due to fog.

Airport authorities suspended ground operations at Taipei Songshan Airport for a brief period at 3:13 p.m. due to thunderstorms over safety concerns, but delays were also caused by poor visibility due to bad weather.

The airport saw delays of as long as 70 minutes for domestic flights operated by either Mandarin Airlines or UNI Airways, and up to 48 minutes on regional flights, the airport's live flight information page showed.

In addition to domestic flights to eastern Taiwan and offshore islands, Taipei Songshan also handles regional flights connecting the Taiwanese capital with destinations in Japan, South Korea and China.

Meanwhile, as of 4:30 p.m., the Aeronautical Meteorological Service website showed Beigan and Nangan airports in the Matsu Islands had reopened after closing at 1:18 p.m. and 1:07 p.m. Sunday, but low cloud cover were still affecting operations at the airports.

The unstable weather also led to suspension of services on the Maokong Gondola, the cable car service connecting the Taipei MRT's Taipei Zoo Station and the hilly Maokong tea-producing area in Wenshan District.

The Central Weather Administration (CWA) also revised its weather advisories on Sunday afternoon.

As of 4 p.m. it had issued an extremely heavy rainfall warning for New Taipei other than its northern coastal areas and mountainous areas in Nantou and Hualien counties, meaning accumulated rainfall of 200 millimeters in 24 hours or 100 mm in three hours.

The CWA also issued heavy rain warnings for Taipei, Keelung, coastal districts in New Taipei, Yilan, parts of Nantou and Hualien counties, and mountainous townships around the island of Taiwan, meaning accumulated rainfall of 80 mm in 24 hours or 40 mm in one hour.

The heavy rainfall could cause falling rocks, debris flows in the mountains, a river water level surge and floods, according to the weather advisories.