The Macau Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG) hoisted the Typhoon Signal No.8 at 4:30 p.m. today.
According to the SMG website, at 4 p.m. Typhoon Koinu was located some 90 kilometres southeast of Macau.
The weather station said in a statement that "Koinu" was moving slowly, having entered Macau's 100-kilometre range. It warned that gales will affect Macau, predicting increasingly heavy rainfall for today and tomorrow.
"As Typhoon Koinu may take a more northerly path, the possibility of issuing a higher Tropical Cyclone Signal and Yellow storm surge warning cannot be ruled out," the bureau said.
The weather station staid on its website this afternoon that there is a "medium possibility" for the Typhoon Signal No.9 to be hoisted in the early morning tomorrow. Typhoon Signal No.9 is issued when "winds with a sustained speed of 63 to 117 km/h are blowing and intensifying, ore expected to intensify significantly," Executive Order No.61/2018 states.
"There may be flooding below 0.5 meters caused by a storm surge in low-lying areas between midnight and tomorrow morning," the weather station said, reminding the public that the Blue Storm Surge Warning was issued at 2:00 p.m. today.
The hoisting of the Typhoon Signal No.8 indicates that "winds with a sustained speed of 63 to 117 km/h are expected or blowing while gusts may exceed 180 km/h in Macau," according to the SMG website.
When No.8 is up, Macau's public bus transport and ferry are suspended. No.8 is the third highest of Macau's five-level storm warning system (1, 3, 8, 9, 10).
Blue is the lowest of Macau's five-level storm surge warning system (Blue, Yellow, Orange, Red, Black). Blue indicates that the water level is expected to be below 0.5 meter above road level.
Blue is the lowest of Macau's five-level storm surge warning system (Blue, Yellow, Orange, Red, Black). Blue indicates that the water level is expected to be below 0.5 metre above road level. Yellow indicates that the water level is expected to be 0.5 to 1.0 metre above road level.
Meanwhile, the Hong Kong Observatory issued the Gale and Storm Warning Signal No.8 at 12:40 p.m. today. It said this afternoon that it may issue a higher warning signal if Typhoon Koinu edges even closer to Hong Kong.
According to the present forecast track, the Hong Kong Observatory said that Koinu will be closest to Hong Kong tonight, skirting about 70 kilometres south of the city.
