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ROYAL OBSERVATORY
Weather bulletins for shipping and for local fishermen are broadcast over Radio Hong Kong and over special channels for shipping. Liaison officers visit merchant and Royal Navy ships in port to check their barometers and other meteorological instru- ments, to supply daily weather charts and to assist in other ways. The Hong Kong fleet of weather observing ships totals about 60 ships, which is comparable in size with the fleets recruited by large countries. The observations made by these ships are par- ticularly valuable to the Royal Observatory. They are re-broadcast to other centres and also punched on Hollerith cards for climato- logical purposes.
One of the most important functions of the central forecast office is to issue warnings of tropical cyclones. Whenever a tropical depression, tropical storm or typhoon is located within the region bounded by the latitudes 10° and 30° north and the longitudes 105° and 125° east, six-hourly and often three-hourly bulletins are issued.
These include information on the storm's intensity and expected development, the position and movement of its centre and the forecast position for 24 hours ahead. Reliable reports from ships and storm reconnaissance aircraft help to locate storms accurately. When the Colony itself is threatened, the local storm warning system is brought into use and warnings are widely distributed by means of visual signals, telephone, radio and Rediffusion. While gale signals are hoisted, statements are issued and broadcast at intervals of 30 minutes.
Time Service and Seismology. Time signals originating at the observatory are sent out over Radio Hong Kong for the public, and in special broadcasts for aviation and shipping. A visual time signal is flashed from the observatory's signal mast from 8.55 p.m. until 9 p.m. daily and various signals are provided for time marking seismograms and other purposes.
For some years the Royal Observatory has been operating six seismometers, and six more were brought into operation during 1963 as part of the new world-wide network of standardized seis- mometers. A weekly report giving arrival times of significant earth- quake waves is prepared and detailed analyses are later published and sent to other scientific institutions. The observatory also parti- cipates in the Pacific Tidal Wave Warning Service.