Hong Kong wants to use AI to improve typhoon forecasts

The Hong Kong Observatory will invest in artificial intelligence to improve its forecasting of extreme weather events, following the positive results obtained during the recent record rainfall in August. Although the AI models did not accurately identify the areas that would be affected, they did enable timely warnings to be issued. The aim now is to also improve the forecasting of the path and intensity of tropical cyclones.

Hong Kong (AsiaNews/Agencies) – The Hong Kong Observatory wants to expand its tools for predicting extreme natural events by investing in artificial intelligence following positive results obtained during recent monsoons and torrential rains that set a historical record.

He Yuheng, an official at the Observatory, said that AI models provided valuable information, successfully predicting the development of intense rains that hit the Guangdong coast like never before, recording the highest daily rainfall ever recorded in August.

Although the AI models did not accurately identify the exact locations where the rain would fall, they provided an important basis for the warning, He explained, stressing that the use of artificial intelligence in weather forecasting is still in its infancy.

In addition to thunderstorms, the Observatory, which recently issued a heat warning and a storm warning for Taiwan in the coming days, plans to improve the ability of its systems to predict the path and intensity of tropical cyclones. He reported that artificial intelligence systems have a lower margin of error than traditional systems in terms of location, but there are still flaws in terms of intensity and this.

Today, Chinese authorities reported that at least 10 people have died and 33 others are missing after floods in northwestern China's Gansu province, while last month at least 44 people died north of Beijing and tens of thousands were evacuated in Guandong.