Hong Kong Observatory extends forecasting to 7 days

The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) launches a new service - "7-day Weather Forecast" today (December 30). The forecast period has been extended so that the public can conveniently gather more weather information to plan ahead their daily and festive activities.

The "7-day Weather Forecast" includes forecast information on wind direction, wind speed, weather conditions, temperature and relative humidity. The forecast is issued daily at 11.30am and 4.30pm.

The public and the media can browse the "7-day Weather Forecast" at the webpage: http://www.weather.gov.hk/wxinfo/currwx/fnd.htm. The information can also be obtained from the observatory's Information Enquiry System (2926 1133), in the form of a telephone recording or facsimile.

According to the observatory's objective verification scheme, the accuracy of the present seventh day forecast is comparable with those of the second or third day forecast five years ago. The successful extension of the forecast period depends on the effective use of computer technology to enhance service quality in the past years.

This year is also the 30th anniversary of the observatory's Computer Division. At a ceremony to mark the occasion today, Mr Yeung Kai-hing, Acting Director of the Hong Kong Observatory, said, "Over the past decade or so, advances in computer technology have resulted in jumps in computing power and storage capacity, which have provided unprecedented support to meteorological applications. Numerical weather prediction models have become more refined and sophisticated than ever and their accuracy has been improved gradually. In addition, with the rapid advancement of telecommunication networks, more worldwide weather information can be exchanged in a timely manner and become applicable in weather services. With the above improvements, the weather forecast capability is strengthened and the forecast period can therefore be extended to seven days."

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Computer Division, the observatory has designed a set of four bookmarks. They, together with two new pamphlets introducing the "World Weather Information Service" and "Severe Weather Information Centre" websites, are now available to the public for free at the Hong Kong Observatory Resource Centre, Room 2304-2309, Miramar Towers, Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui (telephone: 2926 8250). Mail orders can also be made by sending a self-addressed envelope (size not smaller than 22cm x 11cm with postage stamps of HK$2.20 affixed), to the above address.