HONG KONG – The Hong Kong Observatory cancelled all typhoon signals at 5:40 pm on Saturday, as tropical cyclone Maliksi departed the city and weakened into an area of low pressure.
The strong monsoon signal was issued at 5:42 pm, which means strong winds with mean speed exceeding 40 kilometers per hour are expected from the southwest and that gusts will occasionally reach gale force.
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Maliksi made landfall in Yangxi county in Yangjiang city of Guangdong province as a tropical storm at 0:55 am.
In a weather update at 5:40 pm – an hour after downgrading the Strong Wind Signal, No. 3 to the Standby Signal, No. 1 – the forecaster said the tropical depression has weakened into an area of low pressure over inland Guangdong.
“Under the influence of the southwest monsoon associated with its remnant, winds are still strong over parts of the territory with gales on high ground at first,” said the observatory.
The remnant of Maliksi is expected to bring squally showers to the vicinity of the Pearl River Estuary Saturday night and Sunday morning, it said.
Warning that showers will be heavier at times, the HKO asked people to stay alert about the weather condition.
A thunderstorm warning, issued earlier at 9:45 am, expired at 12:45 pm.
Amber rainstorm warning signal, which was issued at 3:30 pm on Friday, was cancelled one and a half hours later.
With the storm approaching, the HKO issued the typhoon signal No. 1 at 5:40 pm on Thursday. Later, it upgraded it to Strong Wind Signal No. 3 at 4:40 pm on Friday.
Following its landfall in Yangxi county, Maliksi weakened from a tropical storm to a tropical depression.
It unleashed heavy rainfall from Friday morning to Saturday morning in southern Guangdong, with the highest cumulative rainfall of 272.3 mm recorded in the Leizhou Peninsula.
As of 6:52 am Saturday, total 28 rainstorm warning signals were active across Guangdong.
The heavy rainfall also affected the eastern provinces of Fujian, Zhejiang and Jiangxi.
Zhejiang launched a Level-IV emergency response of flood control at 1 pm Saturday in response to the typhoon-triggered heavy rainfall. The province has received moderate to heavy rain since Friday.
*With Xinhua inputs
