No1 storm to darken moon fest
People who want to catch the moon tomorrow night for the Mid-Autumn Festival might blame clouds that are expected as a tropical storm in the South China Sea passed south of Hong Kong and headed towards Hainan Island .
The storm was not expected to pose any direct threat to the city unless it changed its course dramatically or grew stronger.
At midnight, tropical storm Francisco was about 290km southeast of Hong Kong and moving westward at 16km/h. But the Observatory still reminded the public to pay attention to weather changes as the storm would bring an occasional rain squall and strong winds, particularly under the influence of a northerly monsoon.
The Observatory hoisted the No1 (standby) signal at about 2.40am yesterday as the storm entered the boundary 800km from Hong Kong.
Edward Ginn Wing-lui, a senior scientific officer at the Observatory, said the public should expect bad weather in the next few days.
'Although the cyclone should be quite far away by the time of the Mid-Autumn festival, the chances of seeing the moon are slim because cloud is expected to be thick,' he said.
The forecast for tonight and tomorrow's festival is for cloudy weather with rain and the occasional squall.
It was not yet known if any outdoor celebrations scheduled during the holiday - including a number of lantern appreciation activities along both shores of the harbour - would be affected.
The typhoon seasons normally runs from June to October. Recent years have seen a decline in the number of big storms hitting the city.