I guess it just escalated way to quickly for anyone to make useful predictions..
No, I don't agree. It was the HKO trying to avoid employers accusing it of encouraging staff to go home early.
You don't have to be an expert in southeast Asia weather to see that Vicente was going to hit close. As the typhoon's speed trickled to a halt in the South China Sea the day before, the isobars on the HKO's website were indicating that the wind was blowing directly north into HK waters.
I'm not saying that HKO is not incompetent. On the dry, hot Saturday before the typhoon hit, it was predicting heavy rains in the afternoon when there was no cloud on the radar. That really put the ABO in a dilemma.
I was sorry to see irate passengers venting their anger at ground staff on Tuesday morning. It wasn't the staffs' fault, it was a system in total meltdown. So much for the "Hong Kong spirit".