Tropical storm Peipah, the 22nd this year, has entered the South China Sea, the meteorological observatory in south China's island province of Hainan said Monday.

Peipah was located in the eastern South China Sea at 8:00?AM Monday, packing winds up to 108 kilometers per hour, the observatory said.

Peipah intensified into a "super" tropical storm before noon Sunday and its center is moving westward at a speed of 15 kph.

The observatory has issued public warnings of strong winds. The storm is expected to pick up force as it moves west in the next 24 hours.

Experts with the observatory forecast winds of up to 60 kilometers per hour at sea.

Peipah left at least six people dead after landing at Luzon in Philippines Sunday.

The hydrological bureau of south China's Guangdong Province said the storm was unlikely to hit Guangdong, but was expected to bring much-needed rain to alleviate a prolonged drought.

The rainfall in the first ten months this year was 60 percent below the average in the same period of previous years. Major river stretches saw a 16 to 44-percent drop in water levels compared with the previous years.

Officials with the bureau said the province faced "discouraging" water resources for the spring farming, and called on local farmers to collect rainwater

(Xinhua News Agency November 6, 2007)