Chinese able to receive meteorological alerts up to 8 minutes in advance

BEIJING, Oct. 30 (Xinhua) — With the improvement of China’s meteorological disaster risk warning capability, meteorological alerts can be delivered to the public within three to eight minutes, covering 98.8 percent of the country’s population, China Science Daily has reported.
Xiong Shaoyuan, deputy chief of the China Meteorological Administration (CMA), told a press conference on Tuesday that the accuracy of heavy rain warnings has reached 93 percent, and the lead time for severe convective weather warnings has increased to 43 minutes, marking a significant improvement for the country’s disaster control.
China’s emergency response mechanism, led by meteorological disaster warnings, has been continuously strengthened. A comprehensive national survey of 10 major types of meteorological disaster risks has been completed, and 45 types of meteorological disaster risk products are now released on a daily basis, said Xiong.
Additionally, the services for warning against risks such as flash floods, geological disasters, and forest and grassland fires have been digitized with high precision, said the official.
Xiong further said that meteorological services have been extended to more than 70 sectors of the national economy, contributing to smooth transportation, stable energy supply, improved livelihood and the development of new quality productive forces.
For example, the meteorological service system for agriculture covers the entire chain of grain production, and in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, the CMA issued 12 types of agricultural meteorological disaster risk warnings, said Xiong.
This year, in response to the CMA’s hot and dry wind warnings, the country’s wheat producing regions have taken various measures of disaster control, which have brought an increase in the yield of winter wheat by about 1.5 billion kilograms, he said. ■