The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) strives to upgrade its weather forecasting services by incorporating new technologies and leveraging its membership of the World Meteorological Organization to advance knowledge in the field.  

Secretary for Environment & Ecology Tse Chin-wan gave these assurances today in response to questions from legislator Chan Chun-ying in the Legislative Council. He highlighted that public expectations of weather forecasting services continue to rise as information about weather phenomena becomes increasingly available.

Mr Tse said the HKO has been using artificial intelligence in recent years to optimise its rainfall “nowcasting” system, which he explained can generally provide alerts at ten to several tens of minutes before rainfall reaches rainstorm warning levels.

As the development of rainstorms is highly random and conditions can change drastically within a short period of time, he cautioned that the prediction of rainstorms is a major challenge for the global meteorological community.

Regarding tropical cyclone warnings, the environment chief said the HKO has been conducting trials of an artificial intelligence weather prediction model since the middle of 2023. The model is designed to forecast wind direction, wind speeds, temperatures and sea-level pressure to help compile nine-day weather forecasts and forecast the movement of tropical cyclones.

Mr Tse added that the department launched weather forecast charts created using the “Pangu Computer Model”, an AI prediction model, on its website last month.

He added that the application of artificial intelligence in this area is still in the early stages and that further accumulation of data is necessary before its effectiveness in improving forecast accuracy can be determined.