Another typhoon may be upon HK in a week

Hong Kong may see another typhoon soon as the Observatory said a tropical cyclone may pass by the vicinity of the coast of southern China in the middle of next week.

All tropical cyclone signals were canceled at 8.40 am yesterday as typhoon Talim moved inland and continued to weaken.

But the weatherman said it was still too early to say at the moment whether a typhoon signal will be hoisted for the next one. "The chance is still fifth-fifty so far," said acting senior scientific officer Kok Mang-hin yesterday.

The Observatory said the area of low pressure now over the seas east of the Philippines is expected to develop into a tropical cyclone, enter the northern part of the South China Sea early next week and may intensify into a stronger tropical cyclone as it edges closer to southern China next Wednesday or early Thursday.

It will be windy with squally showers, but its movement remains uncertain.

The European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts says the low pressure area in the Philippine Sea, together with the low pressure near Vietnam will form a tropical cyclone, enter the South China Sea on Tuesday and be closest to Hong Kong by Wednesday night.

The US Global Forecast System is predicting that another tropical cyclone will form in the South China seas by the middle of next week, whereas the cyclone east of the Philippines will move northward toward Taiwan and Fujian.

"The observatory is currently analyzing predictions from different computer models. Some models expect it [low pressure area] to develop quite strongly, while some predict it to move near to the Pearl River Estuary," according to Kok.

"There are a lot of uncertainties since there is still one week to go before the typhoon is expected to approach Hong Kong. It is too early to judge whether the typhoon will hit Hong Kong yet," Kok said.

He added that tropical cyclone tracks will become uncertain due to different factors, such as inconspicuous guiding airflows, northeast monsoons, and whether a Fujiwhara Effect, or binary interaction, is formed due to another tropical cyclone nearby.