Taiwan’s legislature on Monday passed an amendment which will pave the way for allowing private individuals and organizations to forecast certain extreme weather conditions.
In the past, only Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau had the authority to issue warnings and forecast conditions such as heavy rain, thunderstorms, droughts, heavy fog, cold fronts, hail, tornadoes, strong winds or low temperatures.
With the new amendment to the Meteorology Act, organizations, schools and private individuals can now forecast these weather events as well.
There are still some restrictions, though. Only the Central Weather Bureau can forecast and issue warnings for typhoons, natural disasters and torrential rain.
Also, the bureau will instruct anyone issuing inaccurate warnings, earthquake reports, weather reports, or sea condition reports to make changes. Those who refuse to do so can be fined anywhere between NT$100,000 and NT$500,000 (about US$3,000 – US$16,000).