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HOT AND DRY IN JULY
MONDAY, AUGUST 16, 1993
JULY WAS A HOT MONTH WITH THE MEAN AIR TEMPERATURE OF 29.4 DEGREES RANKING THE SECOND HIGHEST ON RECORD, ACCORDING TO A MONTHLY WEATHER REPORT OF THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY.
THE TEMPERATURE IS JUST BELOW THE HIGHEST JULY MEAN OF 29.7 DEGREES RECORDED IN 1967.
THE MONTH'S MEAN MINIMUM AND MEAN WET BULB TEMPERATURES OF 27.6 DEGREES AND 26.5 DEGREES ALSO BROKE THE RECORD.
THERE WERE ALSO LONG SUNNY SPELLS WITH ABOUT 12 PER CENT MORE SUNSHINE HOURS THAN NORMAL.
ON THE WHOLE THE MONTH WAS ALSO MUCH DRIER.
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ALTHOUGH SEVERE TROPICAL STORM LEWIS BROUGHT OVER MILLIMETRES OF RAIN TO HONG KONG, THE TOTAL RAINFALL FOR THE MONTH WAS ONLY 213.7 MILLIMETRES, 66 PER CENT OF THE JULY NORMAL OF 323.5 MILLIMETRES.
THE
THIS EVENED OUT THE EXCESS RAINFALL IN JUNE. AS A RESULT, TOTAL RAINFALL FOR THE FIRST SEVEN MONTHS OF THE YEAR WAS 1,257.1 MILLIMETRES, ABOUT FOUR PER CENT BELOW THE NORMAL AMOUNT OF 1,316.0 MILLIMETRES FOR THE SAME PERIOD.
THE FINE WEATHER AT THE END OF JUNE CONTINUED INTO EARLY JULY. APART FROM SOME BRIEF MORNING SHOWERS, THE FIRST NINE DAYS OF THE MONTH WERE SUNNY AND HOT WITH MODERATE WINDS MAINLY FROM THE SOUTHWEST.
MEANWHILE, THE CLOUD CLUSTER OVER THE CENTRAL PHILIPPINES DEVELOPED INTO A TROPICAL DEPRESSION NAMED LEWIS ON JULY 8. IT MOVED INTO
THE SOUTH CHINA SEA AND INTENSIFIED THE NEXT DAY.
LOCAL WEATHER STARTED OFF FINE APART FROM A FEW MORNING SHOWERS ON JULY 10. THE MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 33.5 DEGREES THAT DAY WAS THE HIGHEST OF THE MONTH.
HOWEVER, THE WEATHER DETERIORATED SIGNIFICANTLY IN THE EVENING WHEN THE PERIPHERAL RAIN BANDS OF LEWIS BROUGHT HEAVY SHOWERS AND SQUALLY THUNDERSTORMS TO HONG KONG.
WINDS
OFFSHORE.
SEVERE
STRENGTHENED FROM THE EAST AND BECAME STRONG GUSTY
TROPICAL STORM LEWIS CONTINUED TO MOVE WESTWARDS OVER THE NORTHERN PART OF THE SOUTH CHINA SEA ON JULY 11 TO 13 AND THE WEATHER IN HONG KONG REMAINED UNSETTLED WITH HEAVY SHOWERS AND OCCASIONAL SQUALLY THUNDERSTORMS.
TEMPERATURES DROPPED TO THE MONTH'S MINIMUM OF DURING A HEAVY DOWNPOUR IN THE SMALL HOURS OF JULY 14.
24.3DEGREES
/AS LEWIS
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