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The Environment
As a result of the frequent interchange between the cool northeast monsoon and the warm. and humid maritime airstream over the south China coastal areas, November was marked by unusually gloomy and humid weather. The gloomy weather continued for most of December, contributing to 2012 being the year with the shortest duration of bright sunshine on record. Under an intense cold surge, the lowest temperature of the year at 7.1 degrees was recorded on 31 December at the Hong Kong Observatory, making this the third coldest New Year's Eve on record.
Meteorological and Geophysical Services
Hong Kong Observatory
Established in 1883, the Hong Kong Observatory provides meteorological, climatological, oceanographic, geophysical and astronomical services. The observatory monitors environmental radiation, and administers Hong Kong's official time standard and, through publicity, promotes public awareness of, and appropriate actions to cope with, natural hazards and climate change.
Weather Forecast and Information Services
The observatory issues weather forecasts and warnings about hazardous weather to the public, and to people in the shipping, aviation, transport and logistics industries. It also provides information on ultra-violet radiation, digital weather forecasts in fine spatial and temporal scales and a personalised service to warn people about possible lightning strikes.
Weather information services are delivered to the public through the media, the Dial-a-Weather telephone enquiry system and the observatory's website. In 2012, the online weather information service delivered through the observatory's website registered 30 billion page views, or five times more than in 2011. In addition, the observatory continued to enhance the content of the weather information disseminated through social-networking platforms including YouTube, Tudou, Twitter and Weibo.
The observatory also provides personalised weather information services to the public. While a mobile website was customised for better user experience on mobile devices, a mobile application 'MyObservatory' was also made available on smartphone platforms to provide personalised weather service. Users can access weather information through smartphones any time, anywhere, and are also automatically alerted to weather warning signals. In 2012, 'MyObservatory' was enhanced so that it could automatically inform users of approaching rain at their actual or selected location.
The observatory plays an active role in fostering international co-operation to enhance weather services. In addition to co-ordinating the World Weather Information Service (WWIS) of the World Meteorological Organisation, a web-based project providing official weather forecasts for over 1,600 cities worldwide in 10 different languages, the observatory also worked with meteorological services in other countries to enhance the mobile application 'MyWorldWeather' to extend the WWIS to smartphone platforms.
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