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tropical storm Kate was approaching from the east-south-east. Kate intensified into a typhoon, slowed down and remained almost stationary about 310 miles east-south-east of the Colony until the 22nd, when it began to move away toward Taiwan.
August was even hotter than July and numerous records were broken. The mean daily maximum temperature of 90.9°F, the mean temperature of 84.6°F and the mean daily minimum tem- perature of 80.2°F were all the highest ever recorded at the Royal Observatory, while the absolute maximum temperature of 95.9°F on 31st August was the highest recorded since 1900. The mean relative humidity of 78 per cent was the lowest ever recorded, and rainfall was less than a quarter of the normal amount. Although several typhoons formed in the Pacific there was no need to hoist local signals during August until the very end of the month when typhoon Wanda began to move toward the Colony. After the passage of typhoon Wanda (described in detail below) September was sunny and warm. On 26th September there were strong winds associated with the winter monsoon and the black ball was hoisted for 42 hours.
At the beginning of October typhoon Dinah developed in the Pacific about 980 miles east of Hong Kong and started moving westwards. Local storm signal number one was hoisted at 8 a.m. on 3rd October when the storm was centred about 300 miles east of Hong Kong and the number three signal 24 hours later. Winds became fresh in the harbour and strong at Cheung Chau during the afternoon. Typhoon Dinah crossed the South China coast about 90 miles east of Hong Kong and weakened rapidly. How- ever the rain associated with Dinah persisted until 7th October. The weather during November was somewhat cloudier than normal and there were the usual wide fluctuations in temperature. December was rather mild with plenty of sunshine and only a trace of rain.
TYPHOON WANDA
Typhoon Wanda first formed on 27th August as a tropical depression about 1,300 miles east-south-east of Hong Kong. Moving west-north-west at 12 knots it gradually intensified and reached typhoon strength on 29th August. The circulation covered an area about 1,000 miles across and the track showed practically no deviation as the storm moved directly toward Hong Kong. The