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It gradually became milder and more humid from March 5 to 10 as the continental airstream subsided. Another surge of cool and moist northeast monsoon arrived at the South China coast on the night of March 10. Overcast, cool and humid conditions prevailed until March 15.
With the monsoon moderating, widespread sea fog occurred on March 16 and the visibility fell below 1 000 metres inside Victoria Harbour during the morning. Foggy conditions persisted the next morning and three reported incidents of ship collision occurred. Among these, two catamarans collided 500 metres southwest of Tsing Yi Island and 14 passengers were injured.
With the arrival of a cool northerly airflow that afternoon, fog dispersed and the temperatures dropped rapidly to the month's minimum of 12.5 degrees on the early morning of March 18.
The weather remained cloudy on March 19 but turned mainly fine in the next couple of days as winds became light.
Thick fog again hampered sea traffic and three more cases of ship collision were reported on the morning of March 22 with one person injured. It was fine that afternoon but became generally cloudy the next day.
Apart from some morning fog, the weather was fine and warm on March 24. The month's highest temperature of 25.2 degrees was reached in that sunny afternoon.
A cold front over South China advanced south and reached the coast during the morning of March 25. Strong gusty winds affected the offshore areas and a fishing boat capsized in squally showers near Tap Mun. One woman was drowned and a man was reported missing in the incident. Two students were also injured when their canoes overturned in rough seas at Sai Kung.
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