Tropical Storm Doksuri may miss Hong Kong and hit Taiwan instead, Observatory says
- Storm expected to intensify as it moves towards east of Luzon in coming days
- Latest storm comes on the heels of Typhoon Talim, which earlier triggered city’s first No 8 alert of the year
An intensifying tropical storm swinging past the northern Philippines could miss Hong Kong, but residents have been warned its exact path was still “too early to tell” and the weather could worsen next week.
The forecaster on Friday said Tropical Storm Doksuri, named after the Korean word for “eagle”, was expected to gather strength as it moved towards the east of the Philippine island of Luzon in the coming days, before heading into the northeastern part of the South China Sea by around July 26.
But it was still “too early to tell” to determine the storm’s exact path, the Observatory said.
“It may edge closer to the coast of Guangdong in the latter part of next week, or move towards the vicinity of Taiwan instead,” said Pan Chi-kan, a senior scientific officer at the Observatory. “We should have a better idea of its path in the coming days.”
The storm currently has a maximum sustained wind speed of 65km/h (40mph), but the latest projections show it is intensifying rapidly and expected to reach “severe typhoon” status with wind speeds of 155km/h as it draws closer to waters surrounding Hong Kong and Taiwan.