Wind watch: The new website shows wind gust data, allowing people to better plan outdoor activities.

The Hong Kong Observatory has launched a new webpage showing wind gust data, allowing people to better plan outdoor activities.

It is useful for boat owners and operators of gust-sensitive industries like container terminals, enabling them to take appropriate measures to minimise losses from strong gusts, which often occur during storms and monsoons. They originate mainly from rapid and irregular motion of air currents.

When violent gusts occur, drivers on highways and flyovers, and people engaging in outdoor activities should beware of flying debris and falling objects. People should also be more careful when opening windows. Operators of small vessels should take precautions to prevent their boats from capsizing.

The observatory's website and PDA website show peak gusts recorded in the last 10 minutes for 20 locations. Animations of gust distribution maps for the previous three hours are available to see the temporal variation of gusts. The information is also accessible from the observatory's Dial-a-Weather system on 1878 200-2-227.