An artist's rendition of the UN weather pavilion. [Shanghai Daily]

Expo visitors will not need to worry about Shanghai's weather. They will receive precise and updated weather forecasts for the Expo site free on their mobile phones when strolling around the 2010 world fair.

Construction began yesterday on the pavilion of the United Nations' World Meteorological Organization in the Pudong New Area section of the Expo site. The organization will build a high-tech weather station inside the pavilion.

The station will send forecasts to all visitors every one to three hours. During the city's plum rain or typhoon seasons, the station will issue weather alerts and send updates every half an hour, said Xu Xiaofeng, deputy director of the China Meteorological Administration and commissioner general of the organization's Expo exhibition.

People can also read weather updates on a large screen in front of the pavilion or on the pavilion's Expo Website.

Expo 2010 will be held from May through October. The period includes Shanghai's plum rain, flood and typhoon seasons when people may encounter constantly changing weather ranging from burning sunshine to heavy thunderstorms.

The meteorological pavilion, with a floor space of 2,000 square meters, will look like a huge cloud surrounded by mist. It will simulate climate cataclysms to urge people to protect the environment.

The pavilion is expected to attract 40,000 people every day. It will be the first meteorological pavilion in the 157-year history of the Expo.

(Shanghai Daily March 4, 2009)