Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) and the Senior Citizen Home Safety Association (SCHSA) held a joint press conference today (December 7) and urged the public to take precautions against the cold weather early to midweek next week.
Speaking at the joint press conference, the Assistant Director of the HKO, Dr Cheng Cho-ming, said a cold front had arrived in the south China coastal areas this morning and it had become appreciably cooler locally. The associated intense northeast monsoon is expected to affect southern China over the next few days and local temperatures will drop further with a few rain patches. It will be even colder early to midweek next week. Members of the public, particularly senior citizens and persons with chronic medical conditions, should take note of the weather change and protect themselves against the potential health impact caused by low temperatures.
Dr Cheng noted that the HKO's online information service has been very popular among the public for the provision of timely weather information. As at November this year, the total number of page views of the HKO's website had exceeded 130 billion. The HKO will continue to enhance its online services in the future.
The Chief Executive Officer of the SCHSA, Ms Maura Wong, said that as the weather will turn cold over the next few days, the public should show more care to elderly people, especially singletons and doubletons. It is more likely for seniors to suffer from tracheal problems or other illnesses when the temperature drops significantly. Due to decreased mobility, some senior persons may also suffer from a decline in their ability to conserve body heat. The SCHSA urges the public to show more care to the elderly and remind them to take appropriate precautions against the cold weather.
The HKO has been closely collaborating with the SCHSA over the years to promote the use of weather information for better care of the elderly. Two "Weather and Photography" workshops, as well as the second "Sky of Silver Age" weather photo and time-lapse video competition were jointly organised this year and were well received by the public. Some of the winning entries were adopted in the Hong Kong Observatory Calendar 2019. Looking forward, the HKO and the SCHSA will continue to strengthen collaboration through social media, including producing short video clips with the Silver Age Studio of the SCHSA, which will be uploaded to social media platforms to share tips with the elderly on how to prepare for different types of weather.
The public can obtain the latest weather forecast and the nine-day weather forecast by using the HKO's Dial-a-weather service at 1878 200, or the HKO's mobile app "MyObservatory", or visiting the HKO's website at the following links:
Weather forecast: www.hko.gov.hk/wxinfo/currwx/flw.htm
Nine-day weather forecast: www.hko.gov.hk/wxinfo/currwx/fnd.htm
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