CWB makes suggestion for typhoon day-off decision / 颱風假怎放 氣象局長建議看清晨4點預報　　　　　　　　　　

Upon the arrival of Typhoon Megi, several municipalities declared half a day off on the first day, when the storm was in full force. Then on the second day, when the storm was already on its way to China, a full Typhoon day was declared, triggering widespread complaints. To prevent similar blunders from happening again, the central weather bureau suggested that city and county mayors delay decisions until the bureau's 4am forecast on the morning of the Typhoon. However, many mayors and magistrates believe the proposal too difficult to implement. Typhoon Megi carried two "Typhoon days" in its wake. On the first day, certain municipalities declared half a day off, triggering various complaints. On the second day, after the storm had passed, there was still a Typhoon day, despite a lack of rain or wind in Taipei and other areas, which has spurred debates over how to determine when a Typhoon day is merited. Authorities may close down the city if the radius of the Typhoon is expected to pass through the city within the next four hours and the average wind power of the storm is at or above level 7 with gusts of wind at or above level 10. Unexpectedly, after reviewing the weather forecast, certain municipalities announced only half a day off, making citizens combat the storm in the morning, only declaring a full day off once the inclement weather had subsided. ==HSIN TSAI-CHIN, Director of Central Weather Bureau== The closer to the time of the event the more accurate the information. In the past, about three to five years ago, for the morning we would look at the four to five a.m. forecast and for the latter half of the day we would reference the ten to eleven o'clock forecast. This seems to allow for the highest accuracy, I'd say. This would reduce the number of unnecessary off days. The Weather Bureau remarks that it humbly accepts all criticism, yet hopes forecasts provided at four a.m. on the day of a Typhoon will be used as the standard for determining whether to close down the city. However, certain mayors including the New Taipei City and Tainan City mayors, believe this to be impractical. ==ERIC CHU, Mayor of New Taipei City== In practice, each municipality hopes to make a decision before 10pm the night before. After all, people must know so they can adjust their sleep schedules. ==LAI CHING-TE, Mayor of Tainan City== This would be quite different from the regular schedule of most citizens. He would need to become accustomed to waking at four or five in the morning to check on the status of the Typhoon, which would be quite inconvenient for people. Executive Yuan State Administrative Council member Chang Ching-sen quoted a statistic on her facebook account, listing the number of erroneous Typhoon days over the last 15 years, with Ilan in the lead at 22 days, followed by Taitung at 21, and Taichung and Hsin Pei at 19 each. How should one determine whether to announce a Typhoon day when facing the uncertainty of an incoming storm? Aside from ensuring the reliability of our weather forecasts, is the decision making of each municipal mayor. TRANSLATED BY：M. LARSEN-STRECKER 梅姬颱風來襲、兩天颱風假！第一天部分縣市放半天颱風假，引發民怨，第二天颱風逐漸遠離，像是台北無風無雨，卻繼續放颱風假，颱風假該怎麼放才妥當，引發議論。根據規定，颱風暴風半徑4小時內可能經過的地區，平均風力達7級以上，或陣風達10級以上時，主管機關就能宣布停班停課，不料部分縣市首長參考氣象預報後，不是只放下半天、造成民眾上午風雨中外出、接送孩童不便，就是天氣轉好還在放颱風假。 ==氣象局長 辛在勤== 越接近實際發生的時間 得到的資訊會是更準確的 所以以前 其實在三到五年前 有一種做法就是說 白天早上的放假 是看清晨四點到五點的預報 那麼下半天的放假 是看十點到十一點的預報 我想這樣預報會是最精準 這樣放假錯誤的機率也會減少 氣象局表示，對於各界的批評會虛心接受，但還是希望能用颱風當天清晨四點的最新預報，做為放假標準。但包括新北市長和台南市長都認為不可行。 ==新北市長 朱立倫== 實務上大概我們每一個縣市 都是希望在(前一天)晚上十點以前 能夠做出決定 畢竟民眾的作息也相互要配合 ==台南市長 賴清德== 這個跟平常民眾的生活習慣不同 他必須要先養成 早上四、五點的時候 起來知道颱風的狀況 這也可能帶給他們不便 其實行政院政務委員張景森，在臉書上引用一份數據，統計過去15年來，未達颱風標準卻放颱風假的天數，以宜蘭22天最多，台東21天位居第二，其次是台中及新北，一共19天。面對天災的不確定性，未來颱風假該怎麼放，除了考驗氣象局的預報準確度外，還有縣市首長的決策能力。 記者 王柏文 陳信隆 台北報導