Observatory anticipates typhoon

The Observatory forecasted that a tropical cyclone over the seas east of the Philippines will intensify gradually and move towards the vicinity of Luzon in the next couple of days, with a high chance of entering the northeastern part of the South China Sea.

At 4 pm, the tropical depression over the seas east of the Philippines was centered about 1090 kilometers east of Manila. It is forecast to move west at about 18 kilometers per hour towards the seas east of Luzon.

The Observatory expects the tropical depression to strengthen into a typhoon on Friday (Oct 25), while entering 600 kilometers of Hong Kong. It will move closer to Hong Kong on Saturday, entering the 400-kilometer range.

However, the weather watchdog said there are uncertainties in its subsequent movement. It may move westwards across the central and northern parts of the South China Sea or take a northwestward track edging closer to the coast of southern China.

Under the combined effect of the northeast monsoon and the tropical cyclone, it will be windy with a few showers over the northern part of the South China Sea and the coast of southern China in the latter part of this week and early next week, it added.