UPDATED: Typhoon Mawar not expected to come close enough to HK to ruin our weekend
Another week, another typhoon. But this one won't affect us much!
Tropical Cyclone Mawar will be closest to Hong Kong on Sunday.[UPDATE: 5.50pm, Friday, September 1]
Mawar moved generally northward today, adopting a track farther away from Hong Kong. Hong Kong Observatory says Mawar's threat to Hong Kong is relatively low in the short term and it will consider whether or not to issue the Standby Signal No. 1 tomorrow.
Yet another tropical cyclone is expected to swing by Hong Kong this weekend, brining several days of heavy winds and rains.
As of 11.00am today, Tropical Cyclone Mawar was located about 520 kilometers east-southeast of Hong Kong, and is expected to move towards the eastern part of Guangdong. The Hong Kong Observatory forecasts the storm will be closest to Hong Kong on Sunday.
As of 2.00pm, no typhoon warning signals have been issued, but the Observatory said it will consider issuing the Standby Signal Number 1 later today.
The storm’s winds are currently reaching 55 kilometers per hour near the eye of the storm. But the Observatory forecasts the storm will strengthen gradually, becoming a Typhoon with wind speeds of 120 kilometers per hour by Sunday.
The weather in Hong Kong over the weekend is expected to worsen, with heavy showers and thunderstorms expected. The Observatory forecasts local wind speeds will reach force 6 to force 7, meaning winds of between 41 and 62 kilometers per hour.
Tropical Cyclone Mawar comes just one week after Tyhoon Hato and Tropical Cyclone Pahkar struck the southern coast of China, bringing strong winds and severe disruption to Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong.
Edited by Heidi Yeung