Typhoon Nuri was moving toward the northeast of the South China Sea and expected to land in the coastal areas of the southern Guangdong Province on Friday, according to the local meteorological station in Guangzhou on Wednesday.

The eye of Nuri, the 12th tropical storm this year, was 720km southeast of Shenzhen City at 8:00 PM, packing winds of up to force-13, or 144km per hour, in the center, the station said.

Nuri was likely to move northwestward to Guangdong at a speed of 15km per hour, and would enter the South China Sea on Thursday.

A force-7 wind was expected to blow above the sea near the Taiwan Strait, Shantou and Shanwei. Torrential rain was likely to lash the eastern part of Guangdong and the Pearl River Delta from Friday, with rainfall of 100mm to 200mm.

In neighboring Fujian Province, the coastal areas were hit by gusts of up to force 8 (51km per hour) on Wednesday morning. The local observatory forecast heavy rain in most areas of the province over the next two days.

Both Fujian and Guangdong had been hit by lingering heat with temperatures rising to 37 degrees Celsius. The observatories expected the impending typhoon to cool the air.

The Ministry of Agriculture on Tuesday night issued an urgent notice requiring fishery and agricultural departments in Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Anhui, Jiangxi and Guangdong to keep the public informed and help fishing vessels avoid risk.

(Xinhua News Agency August 21, 2008)