All Tibet's towns under meteorological observation

LHASA -- A total of 1,009 weather stations of various types have been built in Southwest China's Tibet autonomous region, leading to all the region's 695 towns coming under meteorological observation.

Meanwhile, the region has also established a disaster prevention, mitigation and early warning system, providing forecast for all its towns, according to the regional meteorological administration.

Tibet started establishing regular weather stations in 1951.

"Remote sensing satellite data from the observatories are now shared with 14 regional departments including transport, emergency management and civil aviation," said Tsering Thodri, director of the disaster reduction division of the regional meteorological administration. He said the weather forecast can be updated every 10 minutes with precision in key areas.

In January, the regional meteorological administration issued the first yellow warning of the year for blizzard, locating it in Ngari Prefecture.

"After receiving the early warning, we immediately sent a disaster prevention team to villages for preparing materials and equipment," said Chen Qi, Party chief of Cosibsumgyi Town, Ngari Prefecture.

He said precautionary measures protected people's lives and property as the blizzard struck the town, which has an average elevation of 4,100 meters above sea level.

The autonomous region celebrated the 70th anniversary of its peaceful liberation in August. In the past 70 years, the region has eradicated absolute poverty and is undergoing accelerated development with modernized infrastructure.

The meteorological service in Tibet provides support for transport, tourism, agriculture and animal husbandry and ecological environment, according to the regional meteorological administration.