Windy weather possible for Olympic sailing

by Bob Maxwell on 3 Aug 2008 The Beijing Meteorological Bureau has today predicted that two or three typhoons are likely to land China's eastern provinces in August.

Qiao Lin, an official with the Beijing Meteorological Bureau, said China's typhoon prediction capability has reached advanced standard in the world. He said five or six typhoons were forecast to form off the east coast of China during August, have of them expected to make landfall.

'We will release typhoon prediction and pre-warning 36 hours or 24 hours in advance.'

Responding to the question if typhoons will 'threaten' Olympic events in co-host cities like Qingdao, Shanghai and Hong Kong, Wang Jianjie, deputy director of the weather bureau, said they could identify the formation of typhoons from 170-110km away, with more accurate forecasts available 24-36 hours before expected landfall.

She played down the impact of a typhoon on the Olympic co-host cities saying typhoons will not have a persistent influence on any venue. Its influence to a city may last only one to two days and rainfall will be intermittent.

The prediction contrasts with the Australian sailing team's own weather forecasts, which say the possibility of a typhoon before the end of August is unlikely.

Australian sailing team manager Michael Jones said their own weather forecaster believed that because typhoon Fung Wong had formed in the Yellow sea last week, it would take a long time for another to form.

Fung Wang crossed the coast well to the south of Qingdao, almost half way south towards Hong Kong; bringing strong winds for 36 hours of up to 30 knots.

It is interesting to consider that in 1988, Pusan, Korea was thought to be a light weather venue, in the same way Qingdao was described for 2008, but typhoon influences produced quite a windy regatta.

As was the case 20 years ago, the typhoons may make their presence felt in Qingdao.