N Haidu all-media reporter Ma Junjie Intern Huang Danlin text/picture
More than 20 years ago, people sat around the TV waiting for the weather to be announced. Nowadays, accurate real-time weather forecasts and warnings can fly from the cloud to personal mobile phones; In the 80s of the 20th century, weather forecasters could only roughly draw the range and intensity of radar precipitation echoes according to oral descriptions. In 2022, the country's first S-band dual-polarization phased array weather radar will be launched in Fujian. It only takes 1 minute for the radar to rotate and display the entire weather conditions on the radar map.
How does a piece of weather news witness the changes of the times? The reporter takes you into the Provincial Meteorological Bureau and listens to the stories of meteorological experts.
One radar, one system
Say goodbye to "phone paraphrasing, hand-drawing" forecasting
Liu Aiming, the former chief engineer of the Fujian Meteorological Observatory, devoted herself to the meteorological career in 1982, and for more than 30 years, she has experienced the development process of accurate meteorological observation in Fujian from scratch.
In the 80s of the last century, our province was equipped with three weather radars in Fuzhou, Xiamen and Nanping to strengthen the monitoring and forecasting of typhoons and heavy rains. "At that time, the means of communication were limited, and after the radar in the mountains detected the echo of precipitation, the information could only be 'relayed' by the staff to the forecasters in the distance by telephone." Liu Aiming said, "The ground observation station is only available at the county station, and the observation and report are sent every three hours. The spatial scale, time scale, and timeliness are all very limited, and forecasting basically relies on subjective analysis and experience. ”
"In 1993, our province started the construction of the country's first provincial-level 'mesoscale disastrous weather early warning system', which was applied to short-term heavy rain, thunderstorms, hail, tornadoes and other mesoscale disastrous weather warnings, which is the starting point and milestone of Fujian's meteorological modernization." Liu Aiming introduced that in 1996, Fujian TV's "Weather Forecast" program was launched, which led the country at that time, ending the era of weather forecasting "only hearing its voice, not seeing its people".
In 2003, numerical weather prediction began to play a major role in forecasting, further improving the ability to forecast typhoons, heavy rains and other disasters.
In the 50s of the 20th century, observers from the Fujian Provincial Meteorological Observatory observed precipitation at the Fuzhou National Reference Climate Station (Photo courtesy of Fujian Meteorological Bureau)
Fuzhou National Benchmark Climate Station on the top of Wushan Mountain (photo taken in November 2023)
"The Mid-Autumn Festival in 2016, I believe many people still remember it vividly." Liu Aiming said, "At that time, the Mid-Autumn Festival was approaching and Typhoon Meranti struck, and the meteorological department drew a 50-kilometer radius of the 'disaster core area' with Xiamen as the center on the coastal flood control command and operation map. The day before the landfall of 'Meranti', the Xiamen Municipal Government issued the first emergency mobilization order for typhoon prevention since the founding of the People's Republic of China, and the city implemented the suspension of work, production, classes and markets, and when the typhoon hit, there were almost zero casualties in the city. ”
In July 2022, the most advanced weather radar in the world at that time, and the country's first S-band dual-polarization phased array weather radar, was launched in Minhou, Fuzhou. It only takes 1 minute for the radar to make a complete rotation and display the entire weather situation on the radar map.
The new weather radar can improve the monitoring level of severe convective weather such as thunderstorms, strong winds, hail and short-term heavy precipitation
After decades of efforts by Fujian meteorologists, especially since the new era, the development of science and technology and the wide application of network technology have led to the arrival of intelligent "accompanied" meteorological services.
Fujian Meteorological Data Center
An early warning and a flash letter
Build a strong line of defense against earthquakes and disaster reduction
On the evening of July 23, 2024, a typhoon blue warning appeared on the mobile phone of Mr. Feng, a citizen of Fuzhou, and as Typhoon No. 3 "Gemei" approached this year, the warning signal gradually escalated, and Mr. Feng canceled his vacation plan to Gulangyu in time.
In Putian City, where the typhoon is predicted, Mr. Lin, a farmer on Nanri Island, received a typhoon warning text message earlier, and he immediately evacuated and went ashore with the surrounding farmers. At 10:35 a.m. on July 26, a red warning signal for heavy rain appeared on the mobile phones of the Pinghe County Government and the township flood control responsible persons in the form of "flash messages", and 627 people were resettled in time. According to statistics, as of 10 o'clock on July 27, the meteorological department of the province forcibly reminded 23,109 responsible persons at all levels in the province through "flash letters"; 13,846 early warning information and risk messages were released to the public, 10,501,500 early warning text messages were released, and 2,356 people were directly contacted by grassroots responsible persons for early warnings; And for the first time, the latest typhoon news and chief weather were released on the Home of the Min Zhengtong APP, serving more than 20 million audiences and accumulating 1.91 million visits to the Weather APP.
The above data is just a microcosm, in the past ten years, the meteorological department of our province 24-hour rain, heavy rain, low temperature, high temperature forecast accuracy increased by 7%, 5%, 6%, 10% respectively. In the past 20 years, the proportion of GDP lost by meteorological disasters has steadily decreased from more than 2% to less than 0.5%. In 2023, the forecast and prediction level of the meteorological department of our province will rank first in the country.
Authoritative and accurate typhoon information can be directly sent to individuals through WeChat or text messages, giving early warnings and giving prevention suggestions, such a "personal" weather service is difficult to imagine in the last century.
Early warning "in one hand"
Meteorological services have entered the era of "customization".
Not only can the early warning of typhoon, heavy rain, high temperature, cold wave, strong wind, hail and other disastrous weather fly from the cloud to personal mobile phones, but also the wind, rain, thunder and lightning, cloudy weather and warm and cold in daily life can also be predicted at all times.
Mr. Feng, a citizen of Fuzhou, said: "Thinking about more than 20 years ago, if you want to know the weather forecast, you have to stay in front of the TV and wait for the news broadcast behind the "Fishing Song Singing Night", how can it be convenient now!" ”
Based on the current level of meteorological observation and data processing, our province can continuously collect, analyze and release weather information on a rolling basis, and short-term nowcasting has been updated in minutes.
The intelligent observation instrument of weather phenomena realizes intelligent observation by collecting images and video data and other technical means
"Mobile applications such as Know the Weather now have a companion weather service. With the popularization of Internet technology and artificial intelligence technology, it is possible to 'think and get'. In the future, we will provide more refined and non-inductive intelligent meteorological services for different industries, regions, groups of people and various scenarios. Huang Zhigang, chief service expert of the Provincial Meteorological Bureau and deputy director of the Provincial Meteorological Service Center, said.
Editor: Xiaoyu