BEIJING, July 23 (Xinhua) -- China's national observatory on Sunday renewed a blue alert for typhoon Sonca, which is expected to hit south China's Hainan Province or the Beibu Gulf.
At 6 p.m. Sunday, the eye of Sonca was above the South China Sea some 235 km to the southeast of Sanya City, Hainan, packing winds of up to 18 meters per second, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) said in a statement.
The NMC forecast it will move northwestward to make landfall on Hainan from Monday evening to Tuesday morning or skirted the province and entered the Beibu Gulf to reach the northern coast of Vietnam.
Affected by Sonca, Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan will see torrential rain and gales in the coming days.
The NMC suggested local governments take precautions against possible geological disasters, and ships in affected areas go back to ports.
China has a four-tier color-coded system for severe weather, with red being the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue.