Chief rides storm over typhoon prediction
Beijing's weather chief has admitted that inexperience was partly to blame for this week's botched forecast that the capital was in for the heaviest downpours in a decade.
Tropical Storm Matsa was due to descend on Beijing on Monday, with predictions that it would dump 60mm of rain on the city centre and 100mm on its southwestern suburbs in three hours. But the storm had still not arrived by Tuesday morning and only average rainfall was registered in the capital that night.
Beijing Meteorological Bureau head Guo Hu said the bureau's lack of experience in forecasting typhoons was one of the reasons its prediction was wrong.
Mr Guo told Xinhua that Beijing had not had many typhoons in the past decade.
He also said it was difficult to make predictions because typhoons changed direction and were influenced by many factors, such as geography, the environment and atmospheric conditions.
Mr Guo said a high-pressure system in the city's north had affected the typhoon's path and delayed the storm's arrival.
The Beijing Times quoted the bureau's weather forecasting office director, Liao Xiaonong , as saying the error was related to inadequate observation and research methods.
The storm warning put the city on high alert on Monday.
According to the municipal flood-prevention and drought-relief office, 300,000 emergency workers had been on stand by and 40,000 suburban residents prepared to be evacuated. In Mentougou, in Beijing's west, villagers built several makeshift tents and went through rescue drills.
Unexpected extreme weather has brought the city to a standstill several times in recent years.
In 2001, a late-afternoon snowstorm paralysed the city, and last year, a delayed forecast of torrential rain left many stranded across the city.
