Introduction

Weather is closely related to our everyday life. Inclement weather poses great threat to life and property. With the aim of ensuring public safety, the Hong Kong Observatory (the Observatory) was established in 1883. Regular meteorological observations conducted by the Observatory commenced in the following year.

The Observatory, one of the departments with the longest history, has transferred many valuable archival records to the Public Records Office (PRO) of the Government Records Service for preservation over the years. To mark the 135th anniversary of the Observatory, PRO and the Observatory co-organised this exhibition “Tracking Winds and Clouds: A Century of Archived Stories of the Observatory”. This exhibition showcases PRO’s holdings relating to the early establishment and operations of the Observatory, as well as the precious meteorological records of Hong Kong from the 1880s to 1980s. These archival holdings and meteorological records contain valuable information for the study of the history of the Observatory and the past meteorological conditions of Hong Kong.