not nearly as alarming today. the track finally shifted east from HK, so the worst conditions won't affect them on that course. mature hurricanes don't usually do that ET intensification thing. with the winds weakening those huge swells that are likely to accompany the storm won't be quite as bad... may generate a surge a little higher than the category suggests at landfall but probably not by much.
the ssts just offshore are good for sustaining a hurricane, though. generally 26-28C. it'll probably maintain hurricane strength on the way in unless the shear profile goes to hell.
mountains in HK, huh? thought i remembered seeing stuff like that on shots of the cityscape... just seems so foreign to an east coast guy like me who is used to a broad coastal plain. probably makes surge fatalities a thing for boneheads without simple self-preservation skills. i can't see the one-party chinese government allowing people to willfully stay for that anyhow. nope, new orleans is not likely over there.
HF 2035z15may