4-44
—
And I
TUESDAY, MARCH 12, 145
14
AN ABNORMAL FEBRUARY FOR HONG KONG
***
FEBRUARY WAS ABNORMAL, CHANGEABLE AND UNSETTLED, THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY REPORTS,
HAIL WAS REPORTED ON FEBRUARY 7, WHICH WAS THE EARLIEST DATE ON RECORD FOR HAIL OCCURRENCE IN HONG KONG.
THE MEAN ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE OF 1 013.9 MILLIBARS WAS THE LOWEST ON RECORD FOR FEBRUARY. THE MONTH'S RAINFALL OF 218.8 MM WAS THE SECOND HIGHEST ON RECORD FOR FEBRUARY COMPARED WITH THE HIGHEST RECORD OF 241.0 MM SET IN FEBRUARY 1983.
DURING THE MONTH, RAIN OCCURRED ON 25 DAYS WHICH WAS ALSO THE SECOND HIGHEST ON RECORD FOR FEBRUARY, AFTER THE RECORD NUMBER OF 26 SET IN 1959.
THE MONTH'S MEAN RELATIVE HUMIDITY OF 86 PER CENT AND THE MEAN AMOUNT OF CLOUD OF 92 PER CENT RANKED THE SIXTH AND THE EIGHTH HIGHEST ON RECORD FOR FEBRUARY RESPECTIVELY.
THE TOTAL DURATION OF BRIGHT SUNSHINE WAS 27.9 HOURS WHICH RANKED THE SIXTH LOWEST ON RECORD FOR FEBRUARY.
THE WEATHER WAS FINE AND SUNNY ON THE FIRST TWO DAYS OF THE MONTH UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF CONTINENTAL ANTICYCLONE OVER CHINA. AS THE ANTICYCLONE MOVED EAST ACROSS THE EAST CHINA COAST ON FEBRUARY 3, THE WEATHER BECAME CLOUDY ALTHOUGH THERE WERE STILL SUNNY INTERVALS.
FOR THE REST OF THE MONTH, THE WEATHER WAS OVERCAST MOST OF THE TIME AND THERE WERE LESS THAN 10 HOURS OF BRIGHT SUNSHINE IN 25 DAYS.
AN ACTIVE TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE FORMED OVER SOUTH CHINA ON FEBRUARY 4 AND WAS ALMOST STATIONARY FOR THE FOLLOWING TWO DAYS. WEATHER ON FEBRUARY 4 WAS CLOUDY WITH LIGHT RAIN AND PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS SET IN ON FEBRUARY 5.
J
AS A RESULT, A SECTION OF TUEN MUN ROAD NEAR TAI LAM WAS CLOSED IN THE EVENING OF FEBRUARY 5 DUE TO A LANDSLIP NEARBY. FLOODING WAS REPORTED IN TSING LUNG TAU AND SHA TIN,
ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS AGAIN OCCURRED ON FEBRUARY 6.
THE TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE STARTED TO MOVE SOUTH ON FEBRUARY 7, AND FOG FORMED IN THE EARLY MORNING LASTED UNTIL LATE IN THE EVENING. MORE WIDESPREAD THUNDERY SHOWERS WERE EXPERIENCED ON THAT DAY, CAUSING LANDSLIPS IN SAU MAU PING AND KWUN TONG, WHERE 40 RESIDENTS WERE EVACUATED. MINOR FLOODING WAS REPORTED IN WAN CHAI. THERE WERE ALSO REPORTS OF MARBLE-SIZE HAILSTONES IN KWUN TONG AND THE EASTERN PART OF THE NEW TERRITORIES, INCLUDING SAI KUNG, HIGH ISLAND, SHAP SZ HEUNG ANG TAP MUN, AND MIRS BAY.
THUNDERY SHOWERS