The fireworks were postponed, but the replacement was not

Minister of Technology and Industry László Palkovics dismissed the president of the National Meteorological Service and the professional deputy president of the organization with immediate effect.

The Ministry of Technology and Industry (TIM) wrote in a statement delivered to MTI on Monday: László Palkovics , relieved Kornélia Radics and Gyula Horváth . The identity of the new leaders will be decided later.

The forecast of the National Meteorological Service (OMSZ) was wrong, on the basis of which the Operative Tribe decided to postpone the fireworks on August 20, Origo.hu wrote. The OMSZ predicted 80-90 percent rain and strong gusts of wind at the time of the fireworks display, but none of them occurred. Early on Saturday morning, after the clear weather, the OMSZ announced, among other things, that showers and thunderstorms may reach Budapest several times , the typical accompanying phenomenon of thunderstorms may be downpours, hail and stormy gusts will be less typical.

Even before the decision of the operational team, whose decision was announced after 1 p.m., the OMSZ wrote, among other things: "further convective precipitation (showers, thunderstorms) in several waves is expected in the vicinity of the capital until the evening hours" , the strength of the strongest gusts is 25-30 kilometers per hour is likely. Then the operative tribe decided to postpone the fireworks planned for Saturday evening.

"He couldn't do anything else, since the most important thing is people's safety - it's enough to remember the fireworks display of the Gyurcsány government in 2006, when it was held during a huge storm, five people died and hundreds were injured," states the Origo journalist.

On Saturday, the OMSZ even sent additional warnings, although by late evening it became clear that the predicted storm would not arrive. That is, even a few hours before the fireworks, OMSZ predicted rain and storms. "However, there was no storm, no rain, but due to a wrong forecast by the OMSZ, the fireworks display had to be postponed by a week," says the Origo.hu article.

Source: MTI/Origo

(Cover image: MTI/MTVA)