Residents brave the strong winds of Super Typhoon Saola as Storm Signal No 9 was issued at Tsim Sha Tsui in Hong Kong on Sept 1, 2023. (ANDY CHONG / CHINA DAILY)

HONG KONG – The Hong Kong Observatory issued the typhoon signal No 1 on Wednesday night as Severe Typhoon Koinu moved within 800 kilometers of the city.

The Observatory raised the Standby Signal, No 1 at 9:40 pm, adding that the typhoon warning signal will remain in force for most of Thursday.  

The Observatory said Koinu is expected to continue to move west towards the Pearl River Estuary while gradually weakening due to the northeast monsoon later this week

“According to the present forecast track, Koinu will skirt the southern part of Taiwan and move towards the coastal waters of eastern Guangdong on Thursday, maintaining a distance of over 500 kilometers from Hong Kong,” the HKO said.

“The chance of strong winds generally over Hong Kong on Thursday is not high,” it added.

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As of 10 pm, Koinu was estimated to be about 790 kilometers east of Hong Kong and was forecast to move west at about 12 kilometers per hour towards the vicinity of the southern part of Taiwan region.

The Observatory said Koinu is expected to continue to move west towards the Pearl River Estuary while gradually weakening due to the northeast monsoon later this week.

The need to issue higher Tropical Cyclone Warning Signals will depend on how fast Koinu weakens and its distance from the Pearl River Estuary, the HKO said.  

Under the influence of Koinu and the monsoon, there may be squally showers with strong northerly winds locally over the weekend, it added.

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The Observatory said the weather in Hong Kong on Thursday will be mainly fine apart from isolated showers. It will be very hot and dry during the day.