China preparing for a one-two punch

Two storms are heading for south China, an area that has seen several tropical systems this year.

Tropical Storm Goni is making landfall Wednesday morning local time in Guangdong and Hainan Provinces. The maps are showing that Goni is passing almost directly over Hong Kong. That city has seem high temperatures as high as 36 (degrees C). The storm is expected to bring squalls and heavy rain to teh city but not expected to result in a strong wind (Signal No 3) warning. (Source: The Standard, Hong Kong)

Ships called to harbor as tropical storm Goni draws near S China (Xinhua)

The meteorological station in Guangdong said the center of the storm, the seventh of its kind in China this year, was 230 km away south of Shenzhen City, Guangdong Tuesday morning, moving at the speed of 12 km per hour towards the province.

China signals tropical storm alerts (Xinhua)

BEIJING, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- China's meteorological and disaster relief departments set in place emergency response plans on Tuesday as two tropical storms moved toward southeastern and southern coasts.

The State Disaster Relief Commission and the Ministry of Civil Affairs has advised local governments in six provinces and autonomous regions to prepare for the approaching storms.

The governments have been further urged by State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters to increase checks on buildings, construction sites, municipal infrastructure and reservoirs for weaknesses that could make them vulnerable to floods.

Guangdong and Hainan Provinces and the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in the south are expected to bear the brunt of Goni, the seventh tropical to menace China this year.

The China Meteorological Administration (CMA) said early on Tuesday Goni was likely to hit coastal areas from Hong Kong to Taishan, Guangdong, as early as Wednesday noon.

Right behind Goni is Tropical Storm Morikot. Morikot is expected to become a hurricane Wednesday and strengthen to a Category 2 hurricane before making landfall north of Taiwan sometime Friday.

Tropical Storm Morakot to bring rain to Taiwan (Taipei Times)

The (Central Weather) bureau said Morakot was likely to move along the southern rim of a high air pressure system in the Pacific Ocean as it approaches the nation.

Potential changes to the structure of Morakot as it approaches Taiwan will determine the effect it has here.

Morakot is the eighth tropical storm this year. The seventh tropical storm, Goni, formed on Monday. The bureau said Goni was moving northwesterly toward Hong Kong at a speed of 9kph. By 4:30pm, it was about 140km off the southwest coast of Hong Kong.

Though Morakot is not headed directly toward Taiwan, the bureau said its circumference would start bringing rain to the nation’s eastern, central and southern regions tomorrow. The chances of afternoon showers today are high in the northern region as well.