Rain, Fog & the Road
The week ahead and the season — whether the view will be clear and what heavy rain means for the access road and the stone steps.
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The week ahead and the season — whether the view will be clear and what heavy rain means for the access road and the stone steps.
Jiufen sits high on a coastal ridge and is wet for much of the year. This tool shows rainfall amounts — the week ahead against the seasonal pattern — to help you judge whether the famous dusk view will be clear. It does not show road or trail status. For live conditions during a storm, check the Central Weather Administration typhoon and heavy-rain warnings, and New Taipei road information, linked in the source below.
It is the plum rains & typhoon season — the heaviest downpours of the year. Typhoons between June and November can close the access road outright.
| Season | When | |
|---|---|---|
| Northeast monsoon | 1 October – 31 March | |
| Drier spell | 1 April – 31 May | |
| Plum rains & typhoon season | 1 June – 30 September | now |
Season boundaries drift from year to year. Jiufen is wet most of the year — on the order of 2,177 mm of rain across roughly 222 rainy days — so a dry forecast is the exception, not the rule.
That is noticeably more rain than is typical for these dates.
6 of the next 7 days are forecast to bring 1 mm of rain or more, with about 35 mm in total (typical for this week: 43 mm).
| Day | Rain | Chance of rain |
|---|---|---|
| Sun 14 Jun (today) | 12 mm | 100% |
| Mon 15 Jun | 5 mm | 96% |
| Tue 16 Jun | 8 mm | 99% |
| Wed 17 Jun | 1 mm | 82% |
| Thu 18 Jun | 2 mm | 80% |
| Fri 19 Jun | 7 mm | 98% |
| Sat 20 Jun | 1 mm | 63% |
The main road up to Jiufen, County/Provincial Road 102 (北102 / 102縣道), is repeatedly cut by landslides and rockfall in heavy rain. In October 2024, Typhoon Kong-rey collapsed the Shumei-to-Old-Street road and forced evacuations. After sustained heavy rain, check New Taipei road information before driving up — this tool shows rainfall, not road status.
Shuqi Road and the other stone stairways are the heart of Jiufen, and they turn slippery in the rain. In wet or foggy weather, wear footwear with grip, take the steps slowly, and use the handrails — the descent is steeper than it looks.
During the northeast monsoon (roughly October to March), low cloud frequently settles on the ridge and hides the Pacific and the dusk red-lantern view that many people come for. A clear evening is never guaranteed in that season; the drier spell in spring offers the best odds of a clear horizon.
Updated 14 June at 9:29. Rain figures are weather-model estimates for the area around the Jiufen ridge — useful for comparing periods, not exact bucketfuls; one valley can catch a storm the next one misses. The “typical” figures are 1991–2020 averages from the same modelling family (ERA5), so the comparison is like-for-like. Weather data by Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0).