The chance of hoisting the No. 8 typhoon signal is “medium” and if it happens, it is expected to be early this morning, the Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG) said in a statement, if Typhoon Bebinca follows the projected track.
The local weather station hoisted the No.1 stand-by signal at 5 p.m. on Thursday and has kept the No. 3 signal since Saturday.
Along with the typhoon signal, the “Blue” storm surge warning has been in effect since Thursday. A Blue storm surge warning is where the water level is expected to be below 0.5 metre above street level.
The tropical storm was named “Bebinca” . According to the SMG website, the name Bebinca was given by Macau and means “Macanese Milk Pudding”. In fact, “bebinca” is also a traditional layered-cake dessert in Indonesia, Myanmar and Goa which is also popular in Macau.
The weather bureau said that Bebinca was 170 kilometres south of Macau at 1 a.m. and was almost stationary, and if Bebinca follows its possible track towards the north, it would be nearest to Macau early this morning and so there was a “50-50” chance that it will then hoist the No. 8 typhoon signal.
However, if Bebinca follows its possible track towards the west, the possibility of a higher signal would be low, the SMG statement said.
As the “Blue” storm surge signal is still in force, the weather station predicted flooding in the Inner Harbour area from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. due to astronomical tide. It also forecast showers – heavy at times – and occasional thunderstorms today.
