Observatory launches real-time weather photos at Clear Water Bay

8 August 2017

The Hong Kong Observatory has further enhanced its regional weather information service on its website today (August 8) by adding real-time weather photos captured by two new cameras at Clear Water Bay.

The two new cameras are located at the Clearwater Bay Golf and Country Club. One of them faces the southwest, overlooking Tai Miu Wan and the Tathong Channel, while another one faces the east, providing a distant view of the waters around the Ninepin Group. The weather photos help monitor different weather conditions such as sea fog over the waters in the southeastern part of Hong Kong.

The Senior Marine Officer of the Marine Department, Mr Huang Jihe, welcomed the Observatory’s initiative to provide real-time weather photos taken at Clear Water Bay. “The newly added real-time weather photos provide useful reference for coxswains to assess the weather conditions over the waters in the southeastern part of Hong Kong, thereby enhancing navigational safety,” he said.

The Acting Senior Country Parks Officer (Ranger Services) of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department, Mr Alfred Wong, said, “Real-time weather photos taken at Clear Water Bay can help members of the public to understand the latest weather conditions at the southeastern part of Hong Kong, in particular the areas of Tung Lung Chau and Shek O Country Park. This assists the public in planning various outdoor activities and reduces the impact of inclement weather conditions.”

With the addition of weather photos at Clear Water Bay, the number of sites providing weather photos on the Observatory’s website has increased to 26. The public can access the weather photos through the Observatory’s “Regional Weather in Hong Kong” webpage (www.hko.gov.hk/wxinfo/ts/index_webcam_e.htm) and mobile platform webpage (www.hko.gov.hk/m/wxphoto.htm). The newly added real-time weather photos at Clear Water Bay will also be made available through “MyObservatory”, the Observatory’s smartphone weather service application, in its next upgrade.

Figure 1.  The Hong Kong Observatory’s “Regional Weather in Hong Kong” webpage shows real-time weather photos at 26 sites in Hong Kong. The newly added real-time weather photos captured by the two cameras at Clear Water Bay facing southwest and east respectively as well as their areas of coverage are highlighted in the red boxes.

Figure 2.  Sea fog near Tai Miu Wan (photo taken at around 9.20 am on April 7, 2017).

Figure 3.  Showers affecting the waters near Ninepin Group (photo taken at around 10 am on July 2, 2017).