A tropical windstorm named "Capricorn" is now coming upon China's southeast coastal areas. As learned China saw its southeast coastal areas frequently besieged by tropical cyclones this year and so far five cyclones have already landed upon China.
Confronting with the tropical storms and typhoons hitting the coastal areas one in the wake of another, the Central Observatory Station performed well in the forecasting of the cyclones. It has reached the world top level so far as its accurate or timely forecasting is concerned. The first half of this year witnessed a sluggish activity of tropical cyclones. According to the forecasting of the meteorological department based on the relevant data materials, the tropical storms and typhoons going to land on China's coastal areas this year would be close to the average as normal times in the past and calamitous windstorms may occur three to five times. To be on the alert, the Central Observatory Station has set up a group to keep a watch on the traces of typhoon and tropical cyclones, to make analyses of them and then forecast.
Formerly, tropical cyclone can be forecasted 2 to 3 days earlier at the most, and this year the Central Observatory Station can do it 4 - 5 days prior to its outburst. On August 5, the station forecasted that the No.8 typhoon would land on the coastal area of Zhejiang five days later, and a quick report was made to some related departments. The typhoon alarm was sounded in the morning of August 6, and the No.8 typhoon landed on Zhejiang Xiangshan at 7:30 pm, August 10 just as forecasted. Thanks to the prompt and accurate forecast, the losses caused by the typhoon were reduced to the minimum.
In the past, the error in forecasting the tropical cyclone in the coming 24 hours has been decreased from the former 200 km to 150 km. This year the station has almost succeeded in forecasting all the changeable tropical cyclones.
According to Yao Xuexiang, vice director of the Central Observatory Station, the successful reports of the tropical cyclones are the result of the increasing improvement of comprehensive strength in China's meteorological field. China has so far been equipped with an advanced system for atmospheric detection, which includes meteorological satellites, monitoring radar systems and automatic observation stations. Development of communication engineering has enabled China to obtain data materials from nearly 2000 ground monitor stations throughout the country. What's more, meteorological workers have accumulated a great deal of experience, so far, the tropical cyclone forecast has escalated onto a new stage and China is now nearing the levels of the United States, Japan and other developed countries in this field.
(People’s Daily 10/25/2000)
