climate

Temperature graph for Taiwan

 Since Taipei is at the northern most point of Taiwan and I was unable to get an annual weather reading for any southern cities I chose Guangzhou on the mainland, which is at the same latitude as a southern most city on Taiwan. I compare their respective temperatures with those of Denver, Colorado as shown in the graphs..

Precipitation graph for Taiwan

 

Taiwan is approximately 110 mi. off the SE coast of Mainland China across the Formosa Strait. To the South are the Philippine islands and the South China Sea. There is an important shipping lane between Taiwan and the Philippines; the Luzon Strait. To the North is the East China Sea. The size of the island is 13,855 sq. mi. The Eastern side of the island is Mountainous covering about 2/3 of the island. Taiwan has a tropical climate and its rainy season runs from January to late in March. Throughout the year the weather is hot and humid. My attempt at comparing the southern part of the island to the climate of Guangzhou, which shares the same latitude, is not too favorable, although the south does not have the same level of monsoon rains as the north. The highest point on the island is Yu Shan Mountain at 3,952 meters, along with five other peaks making Taiwan one of the highest islands in the world. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiwan)

There is only a 15degree celsius variation in temperature on Taiwan throughout the year. There is less rainfall in the south but probably not as extreme as in Guangzhou since it is still a marine climate. Compared to Denver the island climate which is tropical has a much narrower range in temperature but since it is tropical and has a monsoon season in the north it is even more extreme in its difference from Denver which is a high plain desert climate.  the coldest weather in Taiwan during Denver's winter months is never below 15 degrees celsius, whereas Denver is often approaching zero degrees Celsius.If you like tropical weather, this sounds like a great place to visit.