World Weather Information Service showcased in Shanghai World Expo

31 May 2010

The future version of the World Weather Information Service (WWIS) (http://worldweather.wmo.int/globe/) is showcased in the "MeteoWorld" Pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo 2010 from May to October 2010.

Developed by the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) on behalf of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), this brand-new future version of WWIS gives Internet users more intuitive and flexible access to the official weather forecasts for more than 1,300 cities around the world with a simple click. It features a versatile "fly-over" function to any part of the world and a quick search function.

The WWIS Internet website (http://worldweather.wmo.int/) was an initiative put forward by HKO to WMO back in 2000 to provide authoritative and reliable weather information of National Meteorological Services (NMSs) around the world to all Internet users. In 2008, WWIS won the prestigious Stockholm Challenge Award in the Environment Category (http://www.stockholmchallenge.org/). The Stockholm Challenge is a major international IT competition and considered by some people as the Oscar Award for the IT sector.

At present, 124 WMO members provide official weather forecasts in eight different languages, for more than 1,300 cities on the website. Climatological data for the cities are also provided to help users in planning their travel. Following the hyperlinks on the website, users can also visit the websites of the NMSs to find out more details on their individual forecasts. WWIS now registers more than 10 million page visits every month on average.

"MeteoWorld" is the first-ever meteorological pavilion in the 159-year history of World Expo. WWIS is showcased as part of the World Expo Meteorological Office in the "MeteoWorld" Pavilion, which is the operational platform for weather forecasting and service delivery in support of the World Expo.

Future version of the World Weather Information Service (http://worldweather.wmo.int/globe/) developed by HKO on behalf of WMO.

The future version of the World Weather Information Service website showcased in the "MeteoWorld" Pavilion of the Shanghai World Expo 2010.