Scientist Sandy Song remembers when she first saw the aggressive swirl of the monster storm approaching on satellite images at her office at the Hong Kong Observatory.
“I was afraid,” she says. “It had a very sharp eyewall and also the intensity was very strong. It was a super typhoon.”
Song is a professional storm watcher who is becoming increasingly worried about the impact of climate crisis on the towering coastal city, home to seven million people.
The super typhoon she was describing was Mangkhut, which churned its way across the South China Sea, killing dozens of people in the Philippines and southern China in September 2018.
Mangkhut also slammed into Hong Kong, with wind gusts of up to 256 kilometers (159 miles per hour). Before the storm hit, the Observatory issued its highest level warning – Typhoon Signal Number 10.
The ferocious storm system wreaked the worst damage the densely populated city had seen in decades. And yet, Hong Kong escaped without any loss of life.
In part, the city got lucky. The storm did not make landfall during high tide, which could have caused much more destructive storm surges.
“Otherwise,” Song says, “the devastation would have been even worse.”
Song and the other scientists at the Observatory are charged with warning this vulnerable coastal city about the threat of extreme weather.
“We have no doubt that climate change is happening right now,” Song says.
In photos: Typhoon Mangkhut
Early warning systems
The Hong Kong Observatory was first established by the territory’s former British colonial rulers in 1883, after a deadly typhoon slammed into the colony.
Back then, a typhoon gun was used to warn locals about oncoming storms. When it was decided that wasn’t loud enough, three bombs were detonated in quick succession at the Water Police Station in Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon. In 1917, the first numbered local warning system was implemented, although the typhoon bomb practice continued until 1937.
Now, the Hong Kong Observatory sends data direct to residents’ cellphones from its traditional base on a hilltop at Tsim Sha Tsui.
The building originally offered sweeping views across Victoria Harbor, allowing scientists to keep a vigilant watch, but today it is surrounded by much taller modern high-rises that block the view of the sea.
Instead, meteorologists rely on a variety of different systems to provide advance warning of potential threats.
Mountain top radar
From the top of Tai Mo Shan, Hong Kong’s tallest peak, visitors can look down at commercial planes descending on their approach to the city’s international airport.
It is here, at around 970 meters (3,182 feet) above sea level, that the Observatory operates one of its first lines of defense against typhoons.
The Tai Mo Shan Weather Radar is contained in a giant white sphere perched on top of a stone foundation. From the outside it looks like an enormous soccer ball.
The fiberglass sphere contains an 8.5 meter wide (27.5 foot) antennae dish. It is just one of several Hong Kong weather radars, which scan the surrounding skies for precipitation at a range of up to 500 kilometers (310.6 miles).
There are very limited meteorological instruments over the sea, according to Ray Kong, a scientific officer with the Observatory. “Weather radar and also satellite are the only meteorological tools for us to monitor the tropical cyclones or some other weather (approaching) from the south of Hong Kong,” says Kong, who speaks during a tour inside the weather radar’s sphere, the echo of his voice ping-ponging off the fiberglass.
Storm drop
Once a major storm system is detected, the Observatory has developed another technique for gathering firsthand data.
KK Hon, another scientific officer with the Observatory, sends planes over the typhoons to collect valuable information about the strength, direction and pace of the moving weather system.
“We need special methods,” he says. Instead of relying on imagery from satellites, Hon wants data gathered from deep inside the storm.
The mission may sound dangerous, but Hon insists air crews can fly safely over the typhoons – if they go high enough.