No more typhoons this year

Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau director Fong Soi Kun (L) said the tropical storm that shut down Macau yesterday ‘may be the last typhoon’ to hit the city this year

Typhoon ‘Nesat’ that hit Macau yesterday may be the last tropical storm of the year, said the director of the Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG), Fong Soi Kun.
The SMG forecasts changed dramatically on Wednesday night, because ‘Nesat’, which means ‘fishermen’ in Cambodian, changed track.
“This typhoon was going northeast but changed track to the north and got closer to Macau,” Fong explained.
Yesterday, the SMG was planning to hoist the no. 3 signal overnight and said the typhoon was likely to stay far away from Macau and move in the direction of Hainan Island. The forecast director stressed the storm would stay at least 400 kilometres northeast of Macau
But instead ‘Nesat’ turned north and got as close as 290 kilometres from Macau, which lead the SMG to hoist the no. 8 signal for the first time since 2009.
Macau’s tropical storm and typhoon season usually starts in May and goes until September. A total of four tropical storms have hit Macau this season. The no.1 typhoon signal was hoisted for the first time in June due to ‘Sakira’. The next day, the no. 1 signal was lowered as the storm made landfall in Shantou.
Also in June, ‘Haima’ was the second typhoon to enter into Macau’s 400 kilometres warning zone. The maximum signal to be hoisted was no. 3. In mid-July, ‘Nock-ten’ hit the MSAR but forecasters only hoisted the no. 3 signal.
This year, the local forecaster was expecting one or two tropical storms this fall. However, speaking yesterday to the Macau Daily Times, Fong said that ‘Nesat’ “may be the last typhoon to hit Macau this year”. He added there is another tropical storm called ‘Nalgae’ forming over the Pacific Ocean, near the Philippines.

Typhoon ‘Nesat’ changed track overnight and got as close as 290 kilometres from Macau, forcing authorities to hoist the no. 8 signal for the first time since 2009

Nevertheless, “it is expected to head north, towards Taiwan or Japan”, he explained. The new tropical storm would enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility and is likely to become a typhoon today. It is expected to make landfall in the Philippines tomorrow, according to media reports.
Despite the considerable number of typhoons that form every summer over the Pacific Ocean, only a few affect Macau. “Macau is too small, while Taiwan and Hainan are bigger, so it’s a matter of probability,” Fong said.
Late yesterday afternoon ‘Nesat’ weakened and the SMG lowered the signal to no.3. However, showers and heavy rains are expected today and over the weekend.
In an interview with the MDTimes in March, the Typhoon Committee (TC) secretary, Olavo Rasquinho, said that statistically in the Asia-Pacific region there are about 27 typhoons every year. “About six every year lead to a typhoon signal being hoisted in Macau. But these last few years there have been much fewer than that. In the 2009 season there were 22 and in 2010 there were only 14,” he said.
He also urged Macau authorities to “take measures for preventing situations of storm surge”. Rasquinho warned that the Cotai region is very low-lying.  He said it would be necessary to construct barriers or other measures to protect the low-lying parts of Macau.