TROPICAL CYCLONES IN 2014
3.1 Tropical Storm Hagibis (1407): 14 – 18 June 2014
Hagibis was the first tropical cyclone that necessitated the issuance of tropical cyclone warning signal by the Hong Kong Observatory in 2014.
Hagibis formed as a tropical depression over the northeastern part of the South China Sea about 380 km southeast of Hong Kong on the morning of 14 June. Drifting north-northwestwards, it intensified into a tropical storm that afternoon and reached its peak intensity that night with an estimated sustained wind of 75 km/h near its centre. Hagibis started to move steadily northwards in the small hours on 15 June as it edged towards the coastal areas of eastern Guangdong. It made landfall near Shantou that afternoon and weakened into a tropical depression during the night. Hagibis weakened further over the inland areas of eastern Guangdong on the morning of 16 June. However, its remnant low pressure area continued to track across the southeastern part of China before entering the East China Sea the next day and re-intensifying into a tropical depression in the afternoon. Moving east-northeastwards, Hagibis finally evolved into an extratropical cyclone over the seas south of Japan on the morning of 18 June.
As Hagibis edged closer to the coastal areas of eastern Guangdong, the Standby Signal No. 1 was issued by the Hong Kong Observatory at 5:40 p.m. on 14 June when Hagibis was about 310 km east-southeast of the territory. At the Hong Kong Observatory headquarters, the lowest instantaneous mean sea-level pressure of 1001.2 hPa was recorded at 4:53 a.m. on 15 June when Hagibis was about 270 km to the east-southeast. Hagibis was closest to the territory at 9 a.m. that day as it skirted past about 260 km to the east. With Hagibis weakening and posing no further threat to Hong Kong, all tropical cyclone warning signals were cancelled at 1:20 p.m. on 15 June. Under the influence of Hagibis, a maximum sea level (above chart datum) of 3.0 m was recorded at Tsim Bei Tsui, while a maximum storm surge of 0.54 m was recorded at Tai Miu Wan and Waglan Island.
Local winds were generally moderate from the north on 14 June. Affected by a dry continental airstream, local weather was mainly fine and very hot at first. As the outer rainbands of Hagibis moved towards the territory, the weather became cloudy with a few showers in the afternoon. Rainbands associated with Hagibis brought more showers on 15 June, and more than 10 millimetres of rainfall were recorded in many places over Hong Kong.
In Hong Kong, there were heavy swell and rough seas under the influence of Hagibis. Two people swept away by freak waves at the beach of Ham Tin Wan on 14 June were saved from drowning. Six canoeists reported missing in Sai Kung were later found, with one of them injured. Heavy rain associated with Hagibis led to severe flooding in parts of Guangdong and Fujian where land and sea traffic was disrupted. More than 11 520 hectares of farmland were affected, with economic losses reaching 570 million RMB.
Information on the maximum wind, daily rainfall and maximum sea level reached in Hong Kong during the passage of Hagibis is given in Tables 3.1.1 - 3.1.3 respectively. Figures 3.1.1 - 3.1.4 show respectively the track of Hagibis, the rainfall distribution for Hong Kong, a satellite imagery and a related radar imagery of Hagibis.