Weather observation training for civil servants

More than 600 civil servants attended two training courses on weather observation organised by the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) on January 25 and 26, 2005. The aim of the course was to enhance civil servants' understanding of the weather, so they could respond properly and make the appropriate arrangements when their work was affected by weather.

Some civil servants are required to work outdoors, and weather changes can directly affect their work. Planning and arrangement of outdoor operations will also depend very much on intermediate weather changes. Through the training course, participants learnt about basic skills and methods of weather observation, the various weather phenomena, use of weather information available on the HKO website, as well as precautions and measures to be taken during adverse weather situations.

The training course were earlier organised by HKO in August and in September 2004, with more than 200 civil servants attending. One participant from the Environmental Protection Department indicated that the course was very practical and useful, while another from the Social Welfare Department said the speakers were resourceful and their presentations were lively and interesting.

Figure 1.   HKO provides weather courses to enthusiatic crowds of 600 civil servants in two days.

Figure 2.  K.B. Lam, Chief Scientific Assistant, explains how weather observation is conducted.