THE ENVIRONMENT
It was warmer and drier than usual in October.
Dry weather continued into November with only 4.3 millimetres of rainfall recorded against a normal of 35.1 millimetres.
December was warmer and wetter than usual.
Meteorological Services
Hong Kong Observatory
The Hong Kong Observatory was established in 1883, mainly to provide scientific information for the safe navigation of ships. Since then, it has evolved in line with community needs providing services in and studies on weather forecasting, hydrometeorology, climatology, physical oceanography, aviation and marine meteorology, and radiation monitoring and assessment. The Observatory also operates the official time standard for Hong Kong, provides basic astronomical information and maintains a seismological monitoring network.
The Central Forecasting Office at the Observatory's headquarters is responsible for issuing weather forecasts and warnings of hazardous weather. Marine weather forecasts cover the South China Sea. Forecasts and advice are also provided to civil aviation, business and industrial communities, port and container terminal operators. Whenever Hong Kong is threatened by tropical cyclones, frequent warnings are widely disseminated together with advice on the precautions to take. A colour-coded rainstorm warning system warns people of heavy rain that may cause serious road flooding and traffic disruption. The Observatory also issues warnings on thunderstorms, landslips, fire danger, strong monsoon, cold and very hot weather, and frost. An advisory service on the ultraviolet (UV) index is also provided.
Weather programmes for the public are presented regularly on television by the Observatory's meteorologists. During adverse weather, live interviews and briefings are given over the radio and television. Weather information is disseminated to commercial communications services, making it available on various electronic media.
The Dial-a-Weather service operated by the Observatory provides recorded weather messages to the public. In 2001, over 20 million calls were handled.
The Telephone Information Enquiry System is an interactive system through which the public can obtain a variety of meteorological, geophysical and time information by phone or by fax. In 2001, the system handled around one million enquiries.
The Observatory maintains an informative Internet web site which is continually enhanced with new features. To facilitate accessibility for the visually impaired, an audio version was launched in 2001 to provide weather information in audio format. To enable mobile phone users to obtain the latest forecasts, warnings and information on current weather, a WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) version of the web site was also launched in 2001. The total number of visits to the web site exceeded 100 million, or about 300 000 per day on average.
Weather Monitoring and Forecasting
The Observatory exchanges weather observations with the rest of the world through the Global Telecommunications System operated under the auspices of the World Meteorological Organisation. About 16 000 weather reports are received each day
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