Weather forecasts for major cities around the country are being issued every six hours instead of 12 as of Saturday, in a bid to provide more timely warnings of potential meteorological dangers.

The China Meteorological Center (CMA) said on Saturday the new six-hour detailed forecast would be implemented in 36 cities including four municipalities and 27 provincial capitals.

Xue Feng, head of the project, was quoted by the China Meteorological News as saying that forecasts will be updated every six hours beginning at 2 am. The new forecast schedule will provide four forecasts a day instead of two.

The forecasts have also become more detailed. "Forecasts for rain will include the expected precipitation in millimeters," Xue added.

Previously, forecasts simply suggested rainfall would be heavy, moderate or light," Zhang Zhigang, deputy director with the forecasting and networking department at the CMA, told the Global Times.

"It is a trend to provide timely meteorological services to the public," Zhang said, adding that the revamping of the format of weather forecasts was in part due to the floods that inundated Beijing and Shenzhen in the recent months.

While many Sina Weibo users worry that the increased number of forecasts will be less accurate, Zhang said the CMA's is well-equipped to provide more frequent weather forecasts.

Zhang said in major cities the technology CMA uses is on par with international standards.

"Weather officials in the cities adopting the new forecast schedule are required to update the public by various means in a continuous manner," Zhang Zhigang said, adding that the new forecast mode will be expanded to all Chinese cities in the future.

Zhang Mingying, an expert at the Beijing Meteorological Bureau, said the local bureau has issued forecast every six hours since the 1980s and its biggest problem has been informing the public as soon as possible.

The Xinhua News Agency reported that the Beijing bureau has started to send weather warnings to residents via text messages, after floods caused by torrential rains killed 77 residents in the city on July 21.

The bureau is also using a rolling caption on television broadcasts to warn people of potentially dangerous weather, Zhang Mingying said.

"The purpose of weather forecasting is to serve the public and meet demands for timely information," Zhang said, adding that the bureau's cooperation with the Beijing Traffic Management Bureau on weather conditions during rush hours is also critical.