Automatic weather station for Wan Chai district opened

The automatic weather station for the Wan Chai District was officially opened today (December 1). Located at the home bend at Happy Valley Racecourse, the weather station is equipped with instruments for measuring temperature and rainfall. The public can now access the latest weather information in the Wan Chai District by a variety of means, including the Hong Kong Observatory's website and dial-a-weather service.

The opening was jointly officiated by the Chairman of the Wan Chai District Council, Mr Suen Kai-cheong; Director of the Hong Kong Observatory, Mr Lam Chiu-ying; District Officer of the Wan Chai District, Mr Yuen Jing-yee; and Director of Racing Operations of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, Mr John Ridley.

Mr Suen welcomed the establishment of the automatic weather station in the district. "Wan Chai District is a traffic hub on Hong Kong Island, as well as a centre for conventions, exhibitions, entertainment and shopping. It also hosts major facilities such as the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre and Hong Kong Stadium. The temperature and rainfall information from the new weather station will keep residents and visitors informed of the latest weather conditions here," he said.

Mr Lam said, "The setting up of the weather station at the Happy Valley Racecourse under the Observatory's 'one district one station' initiative would not have been possible without the support and co-operation of the Wan Chai District Council and the Hong Kong Jockey Club. Through this initiative, it is hoped that collaboration between the Observatory and the district communities can be enhanced, allowing more comprehensive weather information to be provided to meet the needs of the public."

Mr Yuen said he was pleased to see the successful implementation of the Observatory's "one district one station" initiative, providing district-based weather information to local residents. "The Wan Chai District Office will continue to serve as a bridge to further improve the provision of various government services in the district," he said.

Mr Ridley said, "We are delighted to see the establishment of the weather station at the Happy Valley Racecourse. The station provides real-time temperature information which is very useful to visitors and very important to the operations of the racecourse."

The automatic weather station for the Wan Chai District provides the latest temperature readings round-the-clock. The public can access the information from the Observatory's "Regional Weather" webpage at:
http://www.weather.gov.hk/wxinfo/ts/display_graph_e.htm?hpv&menu=otherwxi&rwx&addbar or PDA webpage at: http://pda.hko.gov.hk/regione_hpv.htm . They can also call the Observatory's dial-a-weather hotline at 187 8200.

The rainfall information from the station is used to plot the rainfall distribution map of Hong Kong (website: http://www.hko.gov.hk/wxinfo/rainfall/isohyete.shtml ).