Hong Kong has experienced an unusual amount of strong storm warnings this year, according to the Observatory, which yesterday evening downgraded the signal 8 typhoon warning put into effect that morning.
The warning was downgraded to a signal 3 at about 7:20pm, some 11 hours after it was issued at 8:40am, as winds from Typhoon Khanun weakened.
The Observatory finally cleared its standby signal number 1 for Hong Kong in the wee hours this morning (2:20am), with the storm passing to the south.
It was the fifth signal 8 storm of 2017 and brought the city to a near stand-still as businesses, restaurants and schools closed, public transport was reduced, and residents sought shelter.
Senior Scientific Officer at the Observatory Lee Tsz-cheun, told RTHK that there haven’t been this many signal 8 warning issued in a single year since 1999.
Tsz-cheung said higher than normal sea temperatures in the Northwest Pacific and northern parts of the South China Sea, which allow tropical cyclones to develop, was one of the reasons for the increase in volume.
The storms were also being guided into the region by a subtropical ridge in the Northwest Pacific, he told RTHK.
Though the number might be unusual, the late-October arrival of Typhoon Khanun was really not all that surprising, given Typhoon Haima saw the city locked down almost a year ago exactly, on October 21.
Tsz-cheung said it was “difficult to say” what role climate change played in 2017’s wild weather, which also included the signal 10 Typhoon Hato that rocked the city in August.
According to the Hong Kong government, the storm caused disruption but little damage.
During the storm:
- 202 people sought refuge at the Home Affairs Department’s temporary shelters.
- The 1823 Government Call Centre received 80 reports of fallen trees
- No reports of flooding and landslide were received.
- The Hospital Authority said 22 people sought medical treatment at public hospitals.
- The Airport Authority said, as of 5pm, 402 flights had been delayed and 67 cancelled.
- RTHK reported that airport officials kept both runways open overnight to clear the backlog of flights.
Airport officials said they would be keeping both runways at Chek Lap Kok open overnight to clear the backlog of flights that had built up amid multiple suspensions.
Correction: Due to an editing error, the headline of a previous version of this story said that 2017 was the first time in almost a decade that five signal 8 typhoon warnings had been issued in a year. It should have said almost two decades.
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