Typhoon Gloria brings in hot and hazy days

Typhoon Gloria brought haze and hot, dry air to Hong Kong yesterday as the storm's outer winds from the northwest blew in dust and heat, the Royal Observatory said.

Air pollution and temperatures will be high today: the air pollution index will leap to levels of 65 to 75 ('moderate') from 'good' levels of between 40 and 56 yesterday because the hot typhoon winds are dust-laden as they come off the land.

But storms tonight will lead to squally showers and possibly heavy rain in the typhoon's wake over the weekend. The observatory will consider raising typhoon signal one this morning when Gloria enters the South China Sea.

Gloria was designated a typhoon - the highest storm category - on Wednesday. Since then it has been moving steadily northwest and will pass the southern tip of Taiwan and enter the South China Sea this morning, heading for the China coast.

Packing winds of about 130 km/h near the centre, it is expected to bring storms later today. A duty forecaster expected it to reach landfall east of Hong Kong between Guangdong and Fujian provinces tonight or early tomorrow.

The hot sun could also lead to photochemical smog and higher levels of deadly ozone, senior environmental officer Pang Sek-wing said.