TROPICAL CYCLONES IN 2016

3.6 Severe Typhoon Megi (1617): 22 – 29 September 2016

Megi was the sixth tropical cyclone necessitating the issuance of tropical cyclone warning signal by the Hong Kong Observatory in 2016.

Megi formed as a tropical depression over the western North Pacific about 300 km south-southwest of Guam on the morning of 22 September. Moving generally northwestwards at first, it turned to the west-northwest the next day and intensified gradually. Megi developed into a severe typhoon over the sea areas east of Taiwan on the small hours of 26 September, reaching its peak intensity the next day with an estimated sustained wind of 175 km/h near its centre. Megi made landfall near Hualien in Taiwan and weakened on the afternoon of 27 September. After entering the Taiwan Strait, it continued to track west-northwestward in the general direction of Fujian. It made landfall again near Quanzhou on the morning of 28 September and moved inland across Fujian, before finally degenerating into an area of low pressure over Jiangxi early in the morning on 29 September.

According to press reports, Megi wreaked havoc in Taiwan, resulting in at least four deaths and over 500 injuries. Business and schools were suspended in all cities and transportation services were paralyzed. Agricultural damage was estimated to exceed NT$ 1 billion. Megi also brought torrential rain and ferocious winds to Fujian, Zhejiang and Jiangxi. At least six people were killed, 33 missing and over 600 000 people were evacuated. Direct economic losses exceeded 2.58 billion RMB.

In Hong Kong, the Standby Signal No. 1 was issued at 8:40 a.m. on 28 September when Megi was about 490 km northeast of Hong Kong. Megi came closest to the territory around 2 p.m., passing at a distance of about 390 km to the northeast of Hong Kong. At the Observatory Headquarters, the lowest instantaneous mean sea-level pressure of 997.2 hPa was recorded at 3:35 p.m. Local winds were generally moderate to fresh northwesterlies that day, occasionally reaching strong force offshore, on high ground and over the western part of the territory. As Megi started to move away from Hong Kong and continued to weaken, local winds gradually subsided during the night. With Megi no longer posing a threat to Hong Kong, all tropical cyclone warning signals were cancelled at 11:10 p.m.

During the passage of Megi, a maximum sea level (above chart datum) of 2.65 m was recorded at Tsim Bei Tsui, while a maximum storm surge of 0.33 m (above astronomical tide) was recorded at Tai Po Kau.

Without any report of significant damage, Megi had no major impact on Hong Kong. Under the subsidence effect ahead of Megi, local weather was very hot and hazy on 27 September with temperatures at the Observatory reaching a maximum of 34.9 degrees, the second highest on record for September. While it was generally fine at first on 28 September, the weather became cloudy during the day under the influence of the cloud bands of Megi.

Information on the maximum wind, daily rainfall and maximum sea level reached in Hong Kong during the passage of Megi is given in Tables 3.6.1 - 3.6.3 respectively. Figures 3.6.1 - 3.6.2 show respectively the track and satellite imageries of Megi.