El Nino may turn coming tropical cyclones into super typhoons: Observatory

Weather forecaster says four to seven typhoons expected to hit Hong Kong this year could be made more intense by El Nino

The El Nino weather phenomenon could turn the four to seven tropical cyclones predicted to hit Hong Kong this year into super typhoons, the Observatory has said.

The weather forecaster also said on Thursday that the 33.4 degrees Celsius (92.1 Fahrenheit) recorded at its Tsim Sha Tsui headquarters was likely to be surpassed on Friday, when the mercury was set to rise to 35 degrees Celsius.

It added that temperatures could rise higher on Friday if showers and thunderstorms occurred at dusk or later.

Under the impact of El Nino and global warming, Hong Kong is expected to be hotter than normal this year, with a high chance of the year becoming one of the 10 warmest on record.

El Nino is the warming of the ocean surface in the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean, occurring every few years.

Choy Chun-wing, the Observatory’s acting assistant director, explained that the El Nino event, which was currently developing and was expected to last from autumn until early next year at the latest, would cause tropical cyclones in the western north Pacific to form further east.