Ex-HKO Chief says Super Typhoon Ragasa stronger than Mangkhut
Former Hong Kong Observatory director Shun Chi-ming has warned that Super Typhoon Ragasa poses a greater threat to the city than Mangkhut, the devastating storm that battered Hong Kong in 2018.
When Mangkhut struck, the city’s strongest warning signal — Hurricane Signal No. 10 — was in force for 10 hours, the second-longest duration since World War II, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
Speaking on RTHK’s Backchat program, Shun explained that Mangkhut had weakened after partially making landfall in the Philippines before approaching Hong Kong.
“Super Typhoon Mangkhut in 2018, which landed over Luzon before hitting Hong Kong, was weakened by around 30 percent in terms of maximum intensity,” he said. “But in this case, Ragasa is crossing the Luzon Strait and retaining its strength, now heading toward Hong Kong at full force.”
Shun also called for stronger regional and international collaboration in storm forecasting, especially with the use of artificial intelligence.
“Global weather models have significantly improved track forecasting for tropical cyclones in recent years. But predicting their intensity remains a major challenge — and that’s where more collaboration is needed,” he said.
He further warned that late-season typhoons are becoming increasingly common.
“Late typhoons now seem to be the norm. For example, last year we saw four typhoons in the Western Pacific at the same time in November. Don’t be surprised if Hong Kong faces typhoons in October or even November.”
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