Just as you thought the curtains were falling on typhoon season and we’d finally get to enjoy some nice, mild weather, Mother Nature has come to whack us on the nose with her metaphorical rolled-up newspaper for being impertinent. Hong Kong could be faced with a T3-level bout of bad weather today.
As of 10am on Monday, October 20, the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) notes that the tropical cyclone Fengshen is centred about 300km south of Pratas Island. The Strong Monsoon Signal is currently in force, but the weather watchdog will consider upgrading the warning to a Strong Wind Signal No. 3 between 5pm and 7pm today.
While Fengshen approaches the coast of Guangdong, there is also a northeast monsoon affecting the southern Chinese coast. This combined effect means it will be persistently windy and the skies will be cloudy with rain over the next couple of days. We can expect rain to be more frequent over Tuesday and early Wednesday, and the water level over Victoria Harbour will rise to approximately three metres above Chart Datum at night from Tuesday to Thursday. The HKO warns that flooding may occur over some low-lying coastal areas during high tide for a few consecutive nights this week.
The only good thing out of this impending tropical cyclone is that temperatures will fall to around 19 degrees Celsius this Tuesday to Thursday in Hong Kong’s urban areas, with the mercury being a couple of degrees lower in the New Territories. As Fengshen begins to weaken and depart, the weather will brighten and warm up, going as low as 22 degrees Celsius with a maximum temperature of 30 degree Celsius over Friday and the coming weekend.
Keep an eye on weather updates on the HKO website.
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