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Weather Underground of Hong Kong (Chinese: 香港地下天文台, pinyin: xiānggǎng dìxià tiānwéntái, referred to below as Weather Underground) is a non-profit website organized by weather enthusiasts and experts, established in 1995 and directed by Mr. Fong Chi Kong (in English, Clarence).
Contents
- Formation
- Founder
- Website
- Other Media
- Weather Forecasting Contest
- Members Gathering
- Meetings with Hong Kong Observatory
- Achievements
- References
The website provides a wide range of information related to weather and climate. Air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, rain and wind chill can be found on the site. Radar and satellite views are also included in order to provide more comprehensive weather data to users. Information about local weather comes mainly from the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO), which collects data from foreign weather organizations, for example, satellite data originate from the Central Weather Bureau of Taiwan.
Weather Underground also established a forum, weather forecasting competition, blog and Facebook page to provide a platform for weather enthusiasts around the globe. Since the establishment of the website, it has attracted over 100 million views worldwide, becoming the most popular weather-related website beside Hong Kong Observatory.
Formation
Weather Underground is established in 1995 by Mr. Fong Chi Kong, Clarence, in order to provide a communication platform for weather enthusiasts and experts to interact with each other. It is the first non-profit weather website in Hong Kong and it then subsequently becomes a community. It aims to provide wider perspectives of weather information, also introduces the latest technologies and encourages the official authority, Hong Kong Observatory, to update its technology as to provide better services to Hongkongers.
By providing information from the Hong Kong Observatory as well as other meteorological and research institutions around the world, weather enthusiasts and experts can access the information for comparison and analysis to get a more complete picture of the weather. Weather Underground also provides exclusive information including weather indices (heat index, wind chill, K index, etc.), surface and upper-level SYNOP reports for Hong Kong, upper-level weather maps for East Asia, lightning location and atmospheric electric field map and map of tropical cyclone forecast tracks by different countries. Weather Underground also provides a discussion forum in both Chinese and English for weather enthusiasts and experts around the globe to gather and share their ideas on weather, climate and other related topics.
Founder
Fong Chi Kong, Clarence is the founder and current director of Weather Underground of Hong Kong. He was an Experimental Officer in Hong Kong Observatory and is currently the committee member of Hong Kong Meteorological Society.
Website
Originally the website was updated twice a day by hands at 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., but updates now are carried out every 10 minutes by automatically.
In August 2007, the website of Weather Underground had changed its layout as well as increased its information provided - current Warning animation, 7-Day Weather Forecast and everyday climatology were added.
Other Media
A blog, ”氣象‧人‧語”, was established in May 2005 in order to share extra weather information and knowledge on weather and climate. In December 2012, the blog becomes a special column in Yahoo! Hong Kong
A Facebook page of Weather Underground (香港地下天文台) is created in March, 2011. The page will update if there is any weather events and warnings, such as typhoon, rainstorm, monsoon and earthquakes.
Weather Forecasting Contest
Weather Forecasting Contest is a competition held by Weather Underground. For each round of contest, participants have to forecast below four elements on Sunday at or before 23:59:59 every Friday:
- Minimum and maximum temperatures over Hong Kong territory,
- Minimum and maximum relative humidity at Hong Kong Observatory,
- Rainfall amount at Hong Kong Observatory,
- Sunshine duration at King's Park, Maximum UV index at King's Park
Daily weather summaries issued by Hong Kong Observatory will be used for verification. If data are missing for any parameter, all forecasts for that parameter will be considered accurate.
The latest round of weather forecasting contest lasts for 12 weeks between January 6, 2014 and March 30, 2014. Round 32 of the contest is currently in progress.
Members Gathering
Weather Underground emphasizes the communication between members. Hence, they have several meetings and gatherings. Below is information of current gatherings:
Meetings with Hong Kong Observatory
In order to improve the services provided by Hong Kong Observatory, Weather Underground have regular meetings with the authority. The last meeting was held in March 2014.
Achievements
In August 2006, Typhoon Prapiroon neared Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Observatory refused to raise the typhoon signal no. 8. This decision triggered intense public discussions. Weather Underground published a report later on, questioning the validity of the Tropical Cyclone Warning System for Hong Kong. This led to the revision of the system by The Hong Kong Observatory in 2007.