A former assistant director at the Observatory said the El Nino effect will bring fewer but stronger typhoons to Hong Kong this summer.

He was speaking after the Observatory predicted that Hong Kong would see four to seven typhoons near the territory this year.

Speaking after attending a radio programme on Saturday, Leung Wing-mo, a spokesman for the Meteorological Society, said El Nino increases sea surface temperatures in the eastern part of the equatorial Pacific while Hong Kong is located in the west.

"When the pool of warm water shifts to the east, most of the tropical cyclones will develop in the east, which is further away from Hong Kong," he said.

"So since the distance of the origin of the typhoons in Hong Kong increases, the chances of the typhoons coming very close to Hong Kong decrease as a result.

"But if a typhoon comes close to Hong Kong, then it has a longer time and longer sea track for development.

"There is a chance that the typhoons which eventually come close to Hong Kong would be a very strong typhoon, maybe a super typhoon."

Leung also said El Nino would bring hot weather to Hong Kong, as well as the entire planet, due to the close interaction between the atmosphere and the ocean.

He called on people to pay attention to their health condition, as extreme hot weather can trigger pre-existing conditions such as diabetes and heart disease.



Edited by Robert Kemp