Strong winds and showers ahead as low-pressure systems near

A broad area of low pressure over the northern South China Sea is expected to move across Hainan Island over the next two days, bringing strong winds and showers to the Guangdong coast as it interacts with a ridge of high pressure over southeastern China.

The Hong Kong Observatory said the system’s path after crossing Hainan remained highly uncertain. It could move north toward Beibu Wan and the Leizhou Peninsula around the weekend, or turn northeast toward the Guangdong coast.

Meanwhile, another area of low pressure east of Taiwan is forecast to move toward Fujian and Zhejiang in the next couple of days. As the system approaches southeastern China and the southern coastal region, weather in the area is expected to become more unsettled from the weekend into early next week, with heavy showers and squally thunderstorms.

Forecasts from several artificial intelligence weather models used by the Observatory show differences in the timing of the South China Sea system’s closest approach to Hong Kong. 

Models Fengwu, Pangu and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts’ AIFS indicate that the system could make its closest approach in the early hours of Thursday, while Fuxi suggests a later approach on Thursday afternoon.

The weather watchdog said fresh to strong winds and showers are expected on Thursday, with unsettled conditions continuing toward the weekend.

𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓