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Royal Observatory
THE Royal Observatory provides all meteorological information within the Colony and is also part of a world-wide network of meteorological services. Weather forecasts and information are supplied to the public, government departments, shipping, aviation and the armed forces by a central forecast office. Meteorological observations are made at the observatory itself in Kowloon, the airport and six other points throughout the Colony, and upper air soundings at the radiosonde station on a hill near the observatory where balloons carrying special reflectors are released every six hours and tracked by wind-finding radar. One balloon each day carries a radiosonde transmitter which transmits back the pressure, temperature and humidity at all levels through which the bal- loon ascends. Numerous rain-gauges are operated throughout the Colony by government employees and private individuals on behalf of the observatory.
At the airport pilots leaving Hong Kong are briefed and provid- ed with written forecasts and information is also exchanged with other weather centres and radioed to aircraft in flight. Special weather bulletins are broadcast for shipping and for local fishermen. Liaison officers visit merchant and Royal Navy ships in port to check their barometers and other meteorological instruments, to supply daily weather charts and to assist in other ways. About 60 ships are supplied with instruments by the observatory to enable them to make weather observations which are then plotted and analysed at the observatory and also rebroadcast to other centres. After being checked against the ships' original log books the observations are punched on to Hollerith cards for clima- tological 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