Super Typhoon Mangkhut predicted to be most powerful storm since records began and presents ‘great danger to Hong Kong’
Forecast from Observatory puts storm within 100km of city on Sunday, with sustained winds of up to 220km/h
Super Typhoon Mangkhut is predicted to be one of the strongest storms to ever hit the city and presents a “great danger to Hong Kong”, a top weather expert said on Tuesday.
The storm, which is forecast to be more powerful than any of the previous typhoons warranting Hong Kong’s highest warning signal, is predicted to pass within 100km of the city on Sunday.
And, Queenie Lam Ching-chi, senior scientific officer at the Hong Kong Observatory, said even if the super typhoon was further away, it could impact the city.
But, the forecaster’s tracking system shows a 70 per cent chance the tropical cyclone will deviate from its predicted path over the next four days.
According to the latest update at 8am on Wednesday, the super typhoon is expected to be closest to the city on Sunday, about 100km southwest of Tsim Sha Tsui, where the Observatory has its headquarters.
Lam Chiu-ying, a former director of the Observatory, said there was still a lot of uncertainty about Mangkhut’s path because it needed to first pass through the narrow Luzon Strait between Taiwan and the Philippines before hitting Hong Kong.
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“Its intensity can be reduced if it hits land on either side [of the strait],” Lam said. “Since it’s still so far away from Hong Kong, its path can easily deviate several hundreds of kilometres from the predicted path.”