The No 1 typhoon warning signal will stay in force at least until 6 pm Tuesday as Tropical Cyclone Saudel edges closer to the territory, according to the Hong Kong Observatory.
Saudel was forecast to skirt more than 200 kilometers southeast of Hong Kong as it moves across the northern part of the South China Sea on Tuesday afternoon, the HKO said in a weather bulletin.
The Standby Signal, No 1 – the city lowest-tier typhoon signal – means that a tropical cyclone is centered within 800 kilometers of Hong Kong and may affect the territory.
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As of 10 am Tuesday, Saudel was estimated to be about 320 km south-southwest of Hong Kong and was forecast to move east-northeast at about 18 km per hour across the northern part of the South China Sea.
As Saudel moves closer to the coast of eastern Guangdong and intensifies gradually from Tuesday to Wednesday, local winds in Hong Kong are expected to strengthen progressively, the observatory said.
Depending on the tropical cyclone’s intensity, the distance of its strong winds from the Pearl River Estuary, and changes in local wind conditions, the HKO said it will assess the need for issuing the Strong Wind Signal, No 3 (T3) by then.
The observatory issues the T3 signal when a tropical cyclone brings or is expected to bring strong winds with mean speeds ranging from 41 to 62 km per hour (25 to 38 mph) over the territory.
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The outer rainbands of Saudel brought squally showers and thunderstorms to Hong Kong on Tuesday morning, with around 10 millimeters of rainfall recorded over many places in the past couple of hours, the HKO said, adding that rainfall even exceeded 20 mm over the eastern part of the New Territories.
The observatory also issued a thunderstorm warning at 9:30 am as a few squally thunderstorms were expected over the territory, while intense gusts of around 75 kph were recorded at Waglan Island at around 11:40 am.
