Over 6 tropical cyclones to affect Hong Kong in June: official

Over 6 tropical cyclones to affect Hong Kong in June: official

HONG KONG, March 23 (Xinhua) -- The number of tropical cyclonesaffecting Hong Kong will be normal to above normal- between six andnine in June or earlier this year, the director of the Hong KongObservatory Lee Boon-ying said, adding that the annual rainfall thisyear is forecast to be near normal- between 2,100 mm and 2,700 mm.

On the occasion of World Meteorological Day Wednesday, Lee calledfor Hong Kong people to prepare for the rainy and typhoon seasons.

Lee said the findings on extreme temperature projections for HongKong in the 21st century suggested that there would be a significantincrease in hot nights and very hot days, and a significant decreasein cold days.

Lee also announced the launch of several new services on theInternet and electronic social networks, including the revamped PDAversion of the Observatory website with friendly displays and richercontent, weather warnings and information on the Weibo website for awider audience, messages about earthquakes of magnitude 6 and abovethrough Twitter, and the ultraviolet (UV) webpage with real-timeUltraviolet-A measurements, together with advice on protection fromexcessive ultraviolet rays.

The recent severe earthquake and tsunami in Japan attractedworldwide attention. Lee said Hong Kong people were worried aboutthe possible impacts on Hong Kong, including the radiation from thedamaged nuclear power plant at Fukushima.

In this connection, the Observatory stepped up its services tobetter inform the public, including releasing its forecast of thetrack of air reaching Hong Kong in the three days following thenuclear incident as well as real-time radiation data at the 10monitoring stations in Hong Kong.