City's weather forecasts add pollution conditions

The Shanghai Meteorological Bureau has begun forecasting weather conditions that can exacerbate air pollution in the city, local media reported Sunday.

The expanded forecast aims to predict when the weather is most suited to trapping airborne pollutants in the city, though residents will still have to visit the Shanghai Environmental Monitoring Center's website for a detailed report on the city's air quality.

The weather bureau began including meteorological conditions such as fog, rain, atmosphere circulation and other phenomena such as temperature inversion, in its daily forecast on Friday, according to a report in the Oriental Morning Post.

The China Meteorological Administration's National Meteorological Information Center started forecasting these weather conditions across the country on September 1, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

The Shanghai Meteorological Bureau classifies the overall weather by one of six levels. At levels one through three, airborne pollutants can disperse quite easily, the report said. At the fourth level and above, however, the pollutants are much more likely to remain in the city.

The bureau has added the reading to its regular weather forecasts, which it issues four times a day: at 5 am, 11 am, 5 pm and 9 pm, said Wu Rui, a press officer for the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau.

Residents can find the forecasts on the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau's website and microblog, as well as cell phone applications such as WeChat, a mobile instant messaging service.

The National Meteorological Information Center's forecast predicts air pollution levels for three periods each day: from 6 am to noon, from noon to 8 pm and from 8 pm to 6 am the following day. It also discloses which pollutants it tracks.