Sansha, China’s newest city, opened a meteorological bureau on the island of Yongxing, in the South China Sea, on Monday.

The bureau will monitor and forecast weather in the Xisha, Zhongsha and Nansha islands and the surrounding waters.

According to a statement on the China Meteorological Administration’s website on Tuesday, the bureau will monitor air temperature, humidity, rainfall, thunderstorms, wind speed and direction, and solar radiation, as well as providing a daily weather forecast.

Sansha, given city status on July 24 this year, has 14 automatic weather stations and two meteorological radars.

Zheng Guoguang, head of the China Meteorological Administration, said in the statement that his organization will work to gain political and financial support to develop further meteorological advances in order to better guarantee the safety of tourists, ships and offshore oil and gas exploration in the area.