Typhoon Vincente

[freightdog188]

thanks, guys!
I guess it just escalated way to quickly for anyone to make useful predictions..

[Iron Skillet]

And, uhm, it's Vicente, not Vincente.

[broadband circuit]

MEssage from the DFO

I never cease to be impressed with the turnout of willing volunteers when we are faced with difficult challenges such as this

Says it all really.

[ReverseFlight]

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".

[ReverseFlight]

no cloud on the radar

I forgot to add that the relative humidity on Saturday afternoon fell to below 50% for most of the territory, which was most unusual, and yet the HKO issued a warning mid-afternoon about the imminent onset of heavy rains.

The HKO, in their usual pride, totally ignored their own observations.

[Frogman1484]

The HKO is pathetically incompetent. They are getting their predictions horribly wrong more often than they get it right.

I think there should be an investigation *into this fiasco. I also think that the head of the HKO should resign in disgrace!

[jonathon68]

VHHH TAF and METAR is for a 5km radius based on the ARP, so it is not uncommon for there to nothing significant at the airport, while more general reports and forecasts show significant weather for greater HKG. Even if there is nothing actually at the airport, any significant weather close by has a huge effect on ATC delays etc.

Surprisingly often "Freddie's forecast" on TVB Pearl is more useful than the TAF rubbish the HKO comes out with.

For this time of the year, I always compare the HKG and MFM weather. If MFM is worse, I base my decisions using their weather forecasting rather than HKG.

Consistently MFM was more pessimistic than HKG during the day of the Typhoon. I secured my house at around midday based on their forecast when it was obvious that the winds were going to be strong.