Tropical Storm Lionrock heads towards South China

Tropical Storm Lionrock formed yesterday in the South China Sea. It is heading towards Guandong province in the southeast portion of the country east of Hong Kong. The storm is slowly strengthening but is expected to remain a tropical storm.

Tropical storm "Lionrock" to bring heavy rains, strong winds to southern China (Xinhua)

BEIJING, Aug. 29 (Xinhua) -- Tropical storm "Lionrock" would bring gusty winds and heavy rainfalls to China's southern provinces as it moves north, the national meteorological agency warned on Sunday.

The storm which started Sunday morning in the South China Sea, was moving northeast at a speed of 5 to 10 kilometers per hour, said the National Meteorological Center (NMC) in a statement on its website.

Its center was located about 410 kilometers south of Shantou City, Guangdong Province, at 11 a.m. Sunday. The storm would get stronger as it moved towards the east coast of Guangdong and western Fujian Province, said local weather authorities of Fujian.

East Guangdong and the coastal region of Fujian would see strong winds in the next 24 hours with wind speeds up to 10.8 to 17.1 meters per second, said the center.

In preparation, the Hong Kong Observatory issued Storm Signal #1 recommending that people prepare for rough weather. These preparations include: cleaning drains and gutters of debris and checking that all hinges, doors and windows are in good conditions. The observatory also recommends refraining from water activity due to increasing swells.

Tropical Cyclone Warning Bulletin (Hong Kong Observatory)

The Standby Signal, No. 1 is in force.

This means that a tropical cyclone now centred within about 800 kilometres of Hong Kong may affect us.

At 9 p.m., Tropical Storm Lionrock was estimated to be about 280 kilometres southeast of Hong Kong (near 20.6 degrees north 116.2 degrees east) and is forecast to move north or north-northeast at about 8 kilometres per hour in the general direction of the coast of Guangdong.

Tropical Storm Lionrock has displayed a north-northeast movement over the past few hours. On its present track, local winds will not strengthen significantly overnight. The chance of Strong Wind Signal No. 3 before 6 o'clock tomorrow morning is not high.