Hong Kong Observatory hopes social media can help it get better at extreme weather warnings
- Forecasters to allow trusted amateur weather watchers to post photos and video footage to MyObservatory app
- On Saturday, two people died after a sudden thunderstorm caught the city totally unprepared
Hong Kong forecasters are hoping the power of social media will help them become better at warning the public about the onset of typhoons, flash floods, and storm surges.
The Hong Kong Observatory wants local residents to post information including texts, pictures and videos of these events to its app, under a plan to help it send more timely warnings when threatening weather is approaching.
Facing public criticism over its failure to forecast the freak event earlier than it did, the observatory had to explain the challenge of predicting rainstorms during rapidly changing weather patterns.
“Between spring and summer, the development of rainstorms over southern China can be somewhat random, and often changes rapidly and is a great challenge for weather forecasting,” the statement said.
Shun Chi-ming, the observatory’s director, said it would add a function to its MyObservatory app allowing the public to report special weather phenomenon in the coming months.