WEATHERMEN warned travellers to beware of Tropical Storm Maliksi which at 4 p.m. Thai time today (May 31) was centred around 120 kilometres from Yangjiang City in China’s Guangdong province.
In its latest announcement, the Thai Meteorological Department said this tropical storm, which intensified from a depression in the upper South China Sea, has a maximum wind speed of 65km an hour near the centre.
It is slowly moving northwards and will make landfall at Guangdong province tonight.
After that it will again weaken into a depression and a low pressure cell.
The public is urged to follow updates at the agency’s website http://www.tmd.go.th or call 0-2399-4012-13 and 1182 24 hours a day.
The Hong Kong Observatory warned that the No 3 typhoon signal will stay in force until 6am on Saturday but is unlikely to be upgraded as Tropical Storm Maliksi approaches, South China Morning Post said.
“Unless Maliksi intensifies rapidly or adopts a track closer to Hong Kong, the chance of issuing higher tropical cyclone warning signals will be rather low,” the Observatory said.
The upgraded signal over Maliksi, which means “fast” in Tagalog, was issued at 4.40 p.m. today. The storm was forecast to be “slow-moving at first” and would later move north at about 15km/h (9mph), making landfall on the coast of western Guangdong province from this evening until early Saturday morning before heading inland.
“The extensive intense rainbands to its south will gradually affect the vicinity of the Pearl River Estuary. There will be heavy showers and strong winds over the regions,” the forecaster said, adding that high grounds would also have occasional gale winds on Saturday.
The maximum sustained wind speed recorded at Tap Mun reached 44km/h in the past hour as of 4.30 p.m., with the strongest gusts exceeding 54km/h.
Meanwhile Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration said while Maliksi, the second tropical storm of the 2024 typhoon season, is not expected to directly impact Taiwan, its residual moisture could merge with a weather front currently approaching the island, Focus Taiwan said.
The combined effect of the weather pattern could bring heavy rainfall to Taiwan over the weekend, the agency said.
CAPTION:
A chart showing Tropical Storm Maliksi’s path. Credit: Taiwan Focus
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