Fish on buildings, storm names and signal No 8 free shots: Hong Kong’s history of typhoons

As Super Typhoon Mangkhut bears down, here’s a look at some storms which have rocked the city from decades past

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The aftermath of Typhoon Wanda in Wan Chai, Hong Kong, 1962. Photo: Handout

Published: 9:30am, 15 Sep 2018Updated: 11:43pm, 15 Sep 2018

Unbearably muggy weather, windows crossed up with tape and the anticipation of a day off school or work – anyone who has lived through a summer in Hong Kong will know the signs of typhoon season.

With the city preparing for Super Typhoon Mangkhut on Sunday, expected to be the strongest to ever hit Hong Kong since records began, the Post explores a stormy history of weather and useful stuff to know as residents batten down the hatches.

What is a typhoon?

Typhoons are tropical cyclones in the western Pacific Ocean, bringing moderate to intense wind and rains to places they move over. In other parts of the world, they may be called hurricanes, so terminology for the phenomenon of strong convective air currents formed from warm ocean temperatures is purely down to geography.

Waves pound the harbourfront at Central as Typhoon Hato sends the city into high alert. Photo: Nora Tam

When is typhoon season for Hong Kong?

This usually runs from May to October, with the summer months of July and August being the peak period. However, each year, typhoon season seems to start increasingly earlier and end later for the city.

In March, the Observatory predicted five to eight No 8 signal typhoons would come within 500km of Hong Kong this summer.

So far however, the city has only experienced heatwaves and heavy rain, but the typhoon warning signal has not gone beyond No 3 – a stark difference compared with last year, when by August 2017, Hong Kong was facing down Super Typhoon Hato with Tropical Storm Pakhar just round the corner.