BEIJING, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- The weather will be
mainly overcast but favorable for the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony on
Friday, said Yu Xinwen, China Meteorological Administration (CMA) spokesman,
here on Wednesday.
The photo taken on Aug. 5, 2008 shows
the white cloud floating above the National Stadium, namely the Bird's
Nest, in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua Photo/Li Ziheng) Photo
Gallery>>>
He said there was a possibility of a brief shower on
Friday afternoon, while the temperature would be between 25 degrees and 30
degrees Celsius.
More than 100,000 athletes, performers and spectators
are expected to attend the opening ceremony in the National Stadium, or "Bird's
Nest," on Friday night. As one of the highlights of the 16-day Games, the
opening ceremony will be broadcast world-wide.
Yu said the weather pattern in Beijing would be
complicated over the next few days, so the monitoring and updating of weather
forecasts should be strengthened to guarantee accurate short-term forecasts.
Qiao Lin, National Meteorological Center of CMA chief
forecaster, said the capital would not have extreme weather in the next
week.
He said it would be cloudy and overcast on Thursday,
although flights in and out of the Beijing Capital International Airport would
not be affected during a period when many dignitaries and guests will
arrive.
But moderate rain was expected
during the weekend, he said.
The photo taken on Aug. 1, 2008 shows
the National Stadium, namely the Bird's Nest, standing with its reflection
image under the blue sky in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua
Photo) Photo
Gallery>>>
Yu said the Beijing Olympic Meteorological Service
Center would provide three-hour weather forecasts for all Olympic venues 72
hours in advance.
"We will also provide weather forecasts for every
hour, 24 hours in advance, for special sports events," he said.
Four satellites will take cloud images every 15
minutes, while 186 automated weather stations around the city will gather data
every 5 minutes. Seven fixed Doppler radar stations and two mobile radar
stations are also in service.
BEIJING, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- An expert from the
Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) said on Tuesday that if the weather does not
change dramatically in the next three days, Beijing will have a "fairly good"
level of air quality on Friday, the opening day of the Olympics.
It might rain on Wednesday and Thursday, said Wang
Zifa, a researcher with the Institute of Atmospheric Physics of CAS, a
government research organization. Full story
BEIJING Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- A Beijing Olympics official
said here Monday that athletes, officials and spectators will have good air
quality during the Games thanks to the pollution control measures in the past
decade.
Being asked the reason for low visibility on Monday,
Sun Weide, a media official with the Beijing Organizing Committee of the 29th
Olympic Games (BOCOG), said he learnt from the city's meteorological
administration that the air quality was grade two with pollution index under
100. It was the high humidity, a natural phenomenon, that reduced visibility. Full story
