Predicting the cherry blossoms has become one of the most closely watched duties of the Meteorological Agency, which was all apologies last week after prematurely predicting the start of the season.

Millions of Japanese wine and dine each year at parties under the cherry trees, whose delicate but short-lived blossoms have left poets over the centuries pondering the ephemeral nature of beauty.

In the end, the white and pink blossoms arrived two days earlier than expected, sparing the weathermen any further blushes.

"There are trees we always monitor to confirm the arrival of the blossom season," said a weather agency official. "We confirmed some buds have opened on the trees today."

The cherry blossoms arrived in Tokyo eight days earlier than average due to an unusually mild winter, the agency said.

Tokyo experienced its first snowless winter since records began in 1876, with the first snow seen only last Friday, which officially counts as spring.

earlier related report
Philippines running out of weather forecasters
Manila (AFP) March 20 - The Philippines, which is battered by about 20 tropical storms a year, is fast running out of experts who can predict when and where future storms will strike, a senior official said Tuesday.

Martin Rellin, the director of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), said that its pool of weather forecasters had fallen to dangerously low levels.

Of 20 forecasters eight years ago, only 12 now remain -- and half of those are applying for jobs abroad, he said.

The main company hiring his people is a Singapore firm that offers weather forecasts for any part of the globe via telephone.

He said PAGASA, which offers weather forecasters salaries of about 17,000 pesos (350 dollars) a month, could not compete with foreign companies paying five times as much.

"It worries me because we really need these people," he added.

He said it took years of training to become a weather forecaster and only the state-run University of the Philippines offered meteorology courses -- and even it has trouble finding the five applicants a year required to ensure the subject stays on the curriculum.

"The University of the Philippines is now having problems in applicants because the science is not very attractive to applicants," he said.

To address the problem, PAGASA is now training its researchers to act as weather forecasters.

"It's a very demanding job, you spend 24 hours tracking a typhoon. This is our frontline service," Rellin said.

Four typhoons toward the end of 2006 and a spate of mudslides unleashed by the heavy rains killed at least 1,312 people with a further 1,859 missing and believed dead, the civil defense agency said in its annual report.

earlier related report
South Africa mops up after giant waves pound Durban
Durban, South Africa (AFP) March 20 - South African disaster management teams were mopping up Tuesday after freak storm waves wreaked havoc in the coastal city of Durban, killing one person and forcing the closure of port operations.

Thousands of residents of beach-front properties who had headed inland for safety heaved a sign of relief as weather experts announced that the giant waves would subside later in the day.

"The situation appears to have calmed down ... it's all under control, swells have dropped and there is no further flooding expected today," National Sea Rescue Institute spokesman, Craig Lambinon, told AFP.

Waves which reached up to eight meters (26 feet) high pounded Durban on Monday, smashing windows and flooding businesses.

The body of one person who was swept out to sea was found washed ashore and several other people have been taken to hospital with injuries.

"There was also substantial damage caused to the houses and businesses on the coast and harbour, and structural damage to roads," Lambinon added.

The storm forced the closure of all port operations in Durban and nearby Richards Bay on Monday night.

Lambinon said the emergency services would remain on standby to monitor the situation.

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