Super Typhoon Gaemi may trigger No 1 standby signal in Hong Kong

Hong Kong’s weather forecaster may issue a No 1 storm warning signal as Super Typhoon Gaemi was expected to enter within 800km (500 miles) of the city on Wednesday night.

The Observatory said on Wednesday that Gaemi, which means “ant” in Korean, would stay 600km from the city as it moved across the central and northern parts of Taiwan and hit Fujian province on Thursday.

As of 5pm, Gaemi was about 820km east-northeast of Hong Kong.

The No 1 signal is issued when a typhoon is centred within 800km of Hong Kong and may affect the city.

The forecaster said outer subsiding air of Gaemi would lead to very hot weather in southern China, with the local temperature ranging from 29 to 34 degrees Celsius (84 to 93 Fahrenheit) on Thursday. The mercury is expected to be a few degrees higher in the New Territories.

Isolated showers and squally thunderstorms are also expected later that night.

The weather is predicted to be more unsettled on Friday and over the weekend as a southwesterly airstream over the northern part of the South China Sea becomes active, bringing showers and squally thunderstorms to the coast of Guangdong province.

The wet weather was expected to continue into early next week.

Some flights have already been affected due to Gaemi. Cathay Pacific Airways’ budget airline, HK Express, said Wednesday’s flights 820 and 821 between the city and Naha, Okinawa, would be delayed.

It also said five other pairs of flights between Hong Kong and Taipei or Kaohsiung – UO112, UO114, UO116, UO134 and UO110 and their return journeys – on Wednesday and Thursday had already been cancelled.

Affected passengers can rebook their trips without extra charges or apply for a full refund for unused legs of their journeys.

Passengers of flights originally arriving to or departing from Taipei or Kaohsiung can redirect to other destinations in Taiwan without additional charges, subject to seat availability.

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