Severe tropical storm forecast to approach Hong Kong next week as blue skies give way to wind and rain
Tropical depression moving towards city could become first typhoon during November since 2013
Hong Kong’s sunshine and clear blue skies won’t last for long as an approaching tropical depression is expected to intensify next week and possibly become the city’s first typhoon in November for four years.
A tropical depression, the lowest in a six-tier tropical cyclone category, was centred about 690 kilometres east-southeast of the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea at noon on Friday, having formed over the Philippines on Thursday.
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Observatory scientific officer Christy Leung Yan-yu said even though the tropical depression was expected to intensify into a severe tropical storm within an 800km radius of the city, it still did not mean a warning signal would definitely be issued.
“Whether any typhoon warning signal will be raised depends on the distance, size and intensity of the storm, and whether Hong Kong will be more likely to be affected by the monsoon or the tropical storm,” she said.
Leung added it was also not rare for a typhoon to hit Hong Kong so late in the year, as typhoons can happen any time between May and November. They are most likely to affect the city between July and September.
The Observatory’s forecast stated: “Tropical cyclone Haikui will intensify gradually and move across the central part of the South China Sea in the general direction of Hainan Island during the weekend and early next week.”