Update 3: 11:15 AM

OK, the weather definitely has become 'stormy'...at least for half my
house. I live on the southeast side of HK island, and to the northwest
of me is a very large series of hills. The wind is coming down from
that direction, and my back patio area is being hit fairly hard: the
plants are whipping around, the picnic table is being pelted and the
cover over my barbeque is flapping around quite vigorously. I'd say
the winds against that side of the house are blowing at about 40mph,
with gusts at about 50.

However, out the front window, facing southeast, it just a drizzly
day! The building is shading the wind, so my front patio is bone dry,
the plants are happily sitting there, and the street below my window
(Stanley Market) seems like it is having a typical sunday morning,
waiting to open. In the distance I can see sheets of rain coming down
over the sea from around the sheltering hills, but the whitecaps have
subsided as this side of the island is the lee side. However, the news
just announced that the HK Observatory (the local weather gurus) have
announced that they still expect the storm to be one of the worst in
recent times, and to make a direct hit landfall, necessitating the
dreaded T10 signal sometime this afternoon. Probably along with the
dreaded Black Rain signal...it just doesn't get any more severe than
that.

The center of the storm is still about 6 hours out, and with the front
stormwall as 'steep' as it appears on the satellite images, things
should get really rocking in the next few hours. Time to go for
another walk.

--riverman