Born in 1924 in Tamsui, Chou Ming-te studied at Tamsui Middle School where he was a classmate of Lee Teng-hui. After graduation, he successfully passed the entrance exam of “The Government General of Taiwan’s School for Meteorological Officers”, and began receiving formal meteorology education, subsequently making him the first Taiwanese meteorologist.

Chou Ming-te served at various weather stations and meteorological measurement stations across the island during the Japanese colonial period. Following the Second World War, he continued to apply his expertise to help prevent or mitigate potential damage from many natural disasters. After his retirement in 1981, he moved to the United States before returning to Taiwan again in 2007, settling at his hometown of Tamsui. He remained dedicated to promoting Taiwanese culture and history as well as meteorological knowledge. He passed away in 2016.

After the Second World War, Chou Ming-te also witnessed corruption of the Nationalist government and the 228 Incident. He recalled that around midday on February 28, 1947, he was working at the Taiwan Provincial Weather Bureau (today’s Central Weather Administration under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications) when he heard sounds of protests from the streets. Shortly thereafter, a Taiwanese islander colleague entered the weather forecast room, notifying everyone of the situation. Islanders in the office began responding to the protest while colleagues who had immigrated from China after the war fled from their positions.