BEIJING -- A Beijing weather official said here on Sunday that the city may be overcast and cloudy, and possibly hit by shower or thundershower on August 8.
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Fireworks explode with an Olympic logo over Beijing's National Stadium, or 'Bird's Nest', during a rehearsal of the opening ceremony for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games August 2, 2008. [Agencies]
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But detailed weather conditions for the opening ceremony night will not be available until August 6, Guo Hu, director of the Beijing Meteorological Observatory, said at a press conference at the Main Press Center.
Continuing heavy rains are unlikely in the days before or immediately after the opening ceremony of the Games, Wang Jianjie, deputy Director of Beijing Meteorological Bureau said at the same press conference.
"We exclude continuous heavy rains before and on the day of the opening ceremony. However we don't exclude that on the 8th of August there might be periodic rain," Wang elaborated when being asked about the weather of opening ceremony once and again.
The three-and-half-hour opening ceremony is expected to be held at the futuristic Bird's Nest, the National Stadium, on the night of August 8.
"Even if there is a shower during the opening ceremony, the current technology can guarantee that the fireworks effect will not be affected," added by Wang Yubin, deputy chief engineer of Beijing Meteorological Bureau, when being asked if technologies such as cloud seeding will be used to control the weather during the opening ceremony.
Another official Zhang Qiang explained the technology of cloud seeding is only in its experimental phase. Its implementation will be decided by specific weather conditions and cloud types.
Concern about Typhoons
The Beijing Meteorological Bureau official announced that it is predicted that two or three typhoons are likely to land China's eastern provinces in August according to this year's typhoon prediction.
Qiao Lin, an official with the Beijing Meteorological Bureau, said China's typhoon prediction capability has reached advanced standard in the world. "We will release typhoon prediction and pre-warning 36 hours or 24 hours in advance."
Responding to the question if typhoons will "threat" Olympic events in co-host cities like Qingdao, Shanghai and Hong Kong, Wang Jianjie said typhoon will not post persistent influence to a city. Its influence to a city may last only one to two days and rainfall will be intermittent.
"So it will not have a long-term effect but only have an effect for a limited period during the Games, " she said.
