GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE
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coast of Fukien near Amoy. Hong Kong experienced several hours of strong south-westerly winds and a few patches of light rain.
From August 4-9 the south-west monsoon prevailed over the South China Sea and the rainfall recorded at the Royal Observatory during this period totalled 139.8 mm.
Typhoon Rose formed over the western Pacific to the west of Guam on August 10 and moved westward across northern Luzon and entered the South China Sea on August 14. The typhoon slowed down and turned to a north-westerly course on August 15, when it was centred about 250 miles south-south-east of Hong Kong. Early on August 16, Rose began to move northwards and headed almost directly towards the Colony. The Strong Wind Signal, No. 3, was hoisted at 5.05 a.m. and the Royal Observatory warned that winds over the Colony might increase very rapidly. The North-east Gale or Storm Signal, No. 7, was hoisted at 9.50 a.m. and was replaced by the South-east Gale or Storm Signal, No. 8, at 12.25 p.m. to warn of a change in the direction of the gales. The Increasing Gale or Storm Signal, No. 9, was hoisted at 9.10 p.m. and was followed by the Hurricane Signal, No. 10, at 10.50 p.m. By this time, Hong Kong was ready for a direct hit by an intense typhoon.
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The eye of typhoon Rose passed close to the west of Cheung Chau early on August 17 and moved away from the Colony north-north- westwards towards Canton. A minimum sea-level pressure of 963.2 mb was recorded at the Cheung Chau Aeronautical Meteorological Station and 982.8 mb at the Royal Observatory. The maximum gust peak speeds recorded were 121 knots at the Royal Observatory, 120 knots at Tate's Cairn, 114 knots at Hong Kong Airport, 105 knots at Cheung Chau and 150 knots at Tai Mo Shan where the anemometer was broken shortly after recording this extremely high speed. The rainfall of 288.1 mm on August 17 was the highest recorded in any calendar day in August since 1884. On the same day, the trace of the 'Jardi' rate-of-rainfall recorder at Tate's Cairn also rose to above the upper limit of the chart. The maximum in- stantaneous rate which occurred around 8.30 a.m. was estimated to be 513 mm per hour, the highest on record in the Colony.
Because of the relatively small size of Rose, heavier damage was reported over the western than the eastern side of the Colony. Over 100 people were killed, hundreds were injured, and thousands were made homeless. Twenty-eight ocean-going vessels were sunk or went aground, 300 small craft were sunk or damaged, and several hydro- foils and cross-harbour ferries were put out of action. The most