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Hong Kong Observatory Nowcasting Services
The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) has been operating its nowcasting services since 1999. In this connection, HKO has developed a suite of nowcasting systems, including the "Short-range Warning of Intense Rainstorms in Localized Systems" (SWIRLS), to aid rainstorm warning operation as well as high-impact weather forecasting for the public and the aviation community. HKO's nowcasting system has been put to use in various WMO Forecast Demonstration Projects and was demonstrated to be among the best performers. In recent years, HKO develops a community version of its nowcasting system (Com-SWIRLS) to promote knowledge exchange in radar nowcasting techniques and for wider application of nowcasting system. HKO is ready to provide nowcasting services to international users in accordance with the standard and requirements for Regional Specialized Meteorological Centre (RSMC) for nowcasting as described in the WMO Manual on the Global Data-Processing and Forecasting System (GDPFS) (WMO-No. 485).
Location-specific Rainfall Nowcast
Forecast rainfall distribution in the next two hours over Hong Kong and the neighbouring Pearl River Delta region with data updated every 6 minutes.
Significant Convection Nowcast over East Asia
Significant convection nowcast up to six hours using retrieved reflectivity (blue ≥24 dBZ, orange ≥33 dBZ and red ≥41 dBZ) from Himawari-8 data and updated every 10 minutes. Lightning counts are marked in yellow (sparse) to brown (dense) with green polygons on areas with high reflectivity or dense lightning.
