FRIDAY, JUNE 9, 1978
WEATHER IN MAY COOL AND CLOUDY
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LAST MONTH WAS THE COOLEST AND CLOUDIEST MAY SINCE 1972, ACCORDING TO THE WEATHER SUMMARY FOR THE MONTH ISSUED BY THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY TODAY.
THE MEAN TEMPERATURE FOR THE MONTH WAS 25 DEGREES CELSIUS WHICH WAS 0.9 DEGREE BELOW NORMAL WITH THE MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 21 DEGREES CELSIUS RECORDED ON MAY 22, AND THE MAXIMUM OF 32 DEGREES ON MAY 30.
A TOTAL OF 89.4 HOURS OF SUNSHINE WAS RECORDED IN THE MONTH WHICH WAS THE THIRD LOWEST ON RECORD FOR MAY.
THE MONTH'S RAINFALL OF 300.4 MM WAS MORE THAN 11 MM ABOVE NORMAL AND THE ACCUMULATED RAINFALL OF 720.3 MM FOR THE FIRST FIVE MONTHS OF THIS YEAR WAS 32 PER CENT ABOVE AVERAGE.
ACCORDING TO THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY, RAIN WAS VERY HEAVY BETWEEN 8 P.M. ON MAY 4 AND 2 A.M. THE FOLLOWING DAY WHEN A TOTAL RAINFALL OF 110.4 MM WAS RECORDED.
THE DOWN POUR WAS DUE TO A TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE WHICH FORMED OVER SOUTH CHINA ON MAY 3 AND REACHED HONG KONG ON THE FOLLOWING EVENING, ACCOMPANIED BY HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS.
HEAVY RAIN OCCURRED AGAIN ON MAY 18 WHEN AN ACTIVE TROUGH MOVED CLOSE TO HONG KONG FROM SOUTH CHINA.
THE TROUGH STAYED OVER THE NORTHERN PART OF THE SOUTH CHINA SEA FOR ABOUT 10 DAYS AND THE WEATHER IN HONG KONG DURING THIS PERIOD REMAINED CLOUDY WITH OCCASIONAL SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS.
THE TROUGH EVENTUALLY MOVED NORTH TO CENTRAL CHINA ON MAY 28 AND HONG KONG'S WEATHER GRADUALLY IMPROVED. APART FROM SOME FOG AT SEA, THE NEXT TWO DAYS WERE FINE AND HOT. ON THE AFTERNOON OF MAY 30, TEMPERATURE ROSE TO A MAXIMUM OF 32 DEGREES CELSIUS, THE HIGHEST SINCE SEPTEMBER 1977.
JURING THE MONTH NO AIRCRAFT WERE DIVERTED FROM HONG KONG DUE TO ADVERSE WEATHER. NO TROPICAL CYCLONE WARNING SIGNALS OR STRONG MONSOON SIGNALS WERE HOISTED AND NO FIRE DANGER WARNINGS WERE ISSUED.
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