Cold weather in Taiwan

Taiwan is cut by the Tropic of Cancer and is a little lower in latitude than Florida, so you might think it is warm all the time. But I guess hot and cold are relative terms.

It has been colder than when I was here last year at this time. I bought a blanket recently and don't think I could have slept with out it. Most houses in Taiwan don't have central heating and at most they might have a space heater. My dorm has neither, usually the problem is that it is too hot(i.e. air conditioning) rather than too cold. It's been so cold lately that I bought a thermometer just to see what is going on.

It's a pretty "old school" thermometer but it has both the Centigrade and Fahrenheit scales so for me it's a learning tool. (Being the only developed country using the Fahrenheit scale is part of the doctrine of "American Exceptionalism" ).
I bet the Tea Party is against the metric system.

Here are the average temperatures in Taipei(North) and Tainan(South) from Wikipedia for January(Centigrade/Fahrenheit):

                           Taipei              Tainan
High                   18.9/66             23.0/73.4
Mean                  15.8/60.4          17.4/63.3
Low                    13.3/55.9          13.6/56.5

In contrast the forecast for January 1st in these two cities is:

High                    13/55.4                18/64.4
Low                       5/41                     9/48.2

For someone from Seattle or Minneapolis these are great temperatures. And in Tainan we have had sunny days since I arrived(I doubt Seattle has had one sunny day.)

Part of the problem in Taiwan is that so many people use motorcycles they add a wind chill factor to how cold it feels. Some of the motorcycle riders wear such heavy coats that I think they could handle Minnesota.

 

I did hear that some women in Taiwan like the cold weather because it means they can wear a different selection from their wardrobe.