Weather Chit Chat Issue 100
Weather Chit Chat Issue 100
Editorial Board
The “Friends of the Observatory” (FoOb) was established in 1996, and the inaugural issue of Weather Chit Chat was published in September that year. For nearly 30 years since its inception, Weather Chit Chat has served as an important bridge for communications between the Observatory and the FoOb, enhancing mutual understanding.
A screenshot from the inaugural issue of Weather Chit Chat
Weather Chit Chat has been enthusiastically received by many different FoOb members over the years. We spoke with several of them, regarding their memories and views, on the occasion of publishing this 100th issue:
“Weather Chit Chat is a publication that has brought me closer to the Observatory since I joined the FoOb in 1996,” recalls Mr Kwan Koon-wah, expressing the core value of this publication.
Mr Poon Lai-shun shares, “After joining the FoOb, I always checked the last pages of Weather Chit Chat regarding any visits and lectures, as well as information on weather phenomena and Observatory services.” This experience of reading with anticipation and actively participating in activities transformed into valuable experience, which greatly helped Mr Poon when he later served as a volunteer docent for the Observatory.
Mr Kwok Ka-lui likewise recalls the first issue of Weather Chit Chat he received: “The first issue I collected was the 13th issue, published in August 2000. Since then, I have been looking forward to each new issue. As an important publication for communications with the Friends of the Observatory, Weather Chit Chat allows tens of thousands of Friends to gain a deeper understanding of the Observatory’s developments and trends.”
Ms Ng Yim-mei tells of the difficulties of producing Weather Chit Chat in the early days: “Although the early Weather Chit Chat was a physical publication of just a few pages, it was a rather arduous task for the staff in charge at the time. They would regularly invite volunteers to contribute articles, but were often turned down; sometimes, after requesting images for contributions, they would find that the image formats were incorrect; and even with sufficient materials, they still had to do the layout and printing, and the time was very tight. They really deserve a thumbs-up.” It was this hardship that created a reading experience like opening a box of mysteries for readers. Ms Ng recalls, “Every time I received Weather Chit Chat, there were always some surprises and little-known news.”
With the changing times, Weather Chit Chat transitioned from a physical print version to an online electronic version in 2020. Ms Au Yeung Wing-man says, “This newsletter is like a digest of Observatory information, regularly providing the latest news from the Observatory, such as new web products, and so on. The content is concise and easy to read, with both text and images. Now you can even browse past issues of Weather Chit Chat through the Observatory’s website or mobile app, which is very convenient.”
Throughout its changes from paper to webpage, from mail to email, Weather Chit Chat has remained true to serving the expectations and memories of countless friends of the Observatory and has grown with its readers. As the publication celebrates its 100th issue, we invite everyone to look back at past issues of Weather Chit Chat.
Weather Chit Chat Issue 100