The Sha Tin racemeeting scheduled for today has been abandoned due to extreme weather condition warnings.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club said earlier that given that the No. 8 Gale or Storm Signal was issued earlier, in the interest of public and equine safety, the Sha Tin race meeting scheduled today is abandoned.
The Hong Kong Observatory warned that Typhoon Koinu would bring intense rain bands to the city.
“Currently, strong winds are prevailing over many places in the territory. With Koinu further edging closer, winds will strengthen gradually locally,” the forecaster said earlier.
“Intense rain bands associated with Koinu will affect the territory later today and tomorrow.”
The Observatory explained that strong north to north-easterly winds should be expected as the storm had moved closer to the Pearl River Delta earlier in the morning, with the gusts occasionally intensifying gale force over some areas.
Koinu is the Japanese word for puppy and named after the country’s term for the Canis Minor constellation.
“Winds will further strengthen in the afternoon. Cloudy with squally showers. Showers will be heavy later. Seas will be rough with swells,” the forecaster said.
The Observatory storm projection data also showed Koinu was expected to move west or southwestern towards mainland China’s Hainan province.
The forecaster also noted that the maximum sustained wind speeds across Tate’s Cairn, Waglan Island and Cheung Chau had respectively reached 73km/h (45mph), 69km/h and 57km/h. Gusts have exceeded 112km/h, 79km/h and 78km/h.
