The Hong Kong Observatory has said the No 1 typhoon warning signal will remain in force for most of Friday, as the storm edges slightly away from the city.
The forecaster said in a special weather warning at 8am on Friday that Severe Tropical Storm Wutip intensified on Thursday night but had taken a slightly westward path away from Hong Kong.
“The standby signal No 1 will remain in force for most of the time [on Friday],” it said.
“The Observatory will assess [between Friday night and Saturday morning] the need for issuing the strong wind signal No 3.”
Wutip, which is named after the Cantonese word for “butterfly”, will skirt the western part of Hainan Island on Friday and move towards Beibu Wan to Leizhou Peninsula, maintaining a distance of more than 500km (310 miles) from Hong Kong.
But the forecaster said winds were likely to strengthen gradually across the city during the daytime on Friday, later reaching up to gale force levels at higher ground.
