XN000022-1977-02-03 — Page 4

3

-

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1977

—

1976 FIFTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR WITH ABOVE AVERAGE RAINFALL

******

1976 WAS THE FIFTH CONSECUTIVE YEAR WITH ABOVE AVERAGE RAINFALL ALTHOUGH EXCEPTIONALLY DRY CONDITIONS PREVAILED DURING THE FIRST FIVE MONTHS.

THE TOTAL RAINFALL FOR THE YEAR AMOUNTED TO 2,197.2 MM, OF WHICH NEARLY 75 PER CENT WAS RECORDED IN JUNE, JULY AND AUGUST. MOST OF THE MONTHS WERE WARMER AND LESS HUMID THAN USUAL.

TWENTY-SEVEN TROPICAL CYCLONES WERE REPORTED OVER THE WESTERN NORTH PACIFIC AND THE SOUTH CHINA SEA DURING THE YEAR, AND TROPICAL CYCLONE WARNING SIGNALS WERE DISPLAYED ON FIVE OCCASIONS IN HONG KONG.

THE FIRST TWO MONTHS OF THE YEAR WERE WARM, SUNNY AND DRY. WIDESPREAD FOG WAS REPORTED OVER HONG KONG WATERS AND ALONG THE SOUTH CHINA COAST BETWEEN FEBRUARY 14 AND 18, AND AS A RESULT, ONE SHIP WENT AGROUND AT LEI YUE MUN CHANNEL AND FOUR OTHERS WERE INVOLVED IN COLLISIONS.

CLOUDY CONDITIONS DOMINATED THE FOLLOWING THREE MONTHS WITH WIDESPREAD FOG ON MANY DAYS IN MARCH AND APRIL. UNUSUALLY HIGH TEMPERATURES WERE RECORDED DURING THE LATTER PART OF MAY DUE TO THE APPROACH OF TYPHOON OLGA, IN THE AFTERNOON OF MAY 26, THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY RECORDED A MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 35.2 DEGREES CELSIUS WHICH WAS THE HIGHEST IN THE YEAR AND THE SECOND HIGHEST ON RECORD FOR ANY MAY.

JUNE WAS MUCH WETTER THAN THE PREVIOUS FIVE MONTHS WITH RAINFALL ABOUT SIX PER CENT ABOVE AVERAGE. DURING THE MONTH, THE WEATHER WAS MAINLY CLOUDY WITH OCCASIONAL HEAVY SHOWERS AND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS.

THE WEATHER IN JULY WAS QUITE SEASONABLE ALTHOUGH RAINFALL WAS ABOUT 15 PER CENT ABOVE AVERAGE. SEVERE TROPICAL STORM VIOLET WHICH AFFECTED HONG KONG BROUGHT WITH IT FREQUENT HEAVY SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS.

AUGUST WAS GENERALLY WARM AND SUNNY APART FROM THE EXCESSIVE RAIN CAUSED BY TROPICAL STORM ELLEN. WIDESPREAD FLOODING AND DISASTROUS LANDSLIPS OCCURRED IN MANY PLACES IN THE WAKE OF THIS TROPICAL STORM. EIGHTEEN PEOPLE WERE KILLED IN ONE LANDSLIP AT SAU MAU PING WHILE ANOTHER TWELVE LOST THEIR LIVES IN OTHER INCIDENTS. THE TOTAL RAINFALL FOR THE MONTH WAS 765.3 MM WHICH WAS MORE THAN DOUBLE THE AVERAGE FIGURE AND RANKED AS THE THIRD HIGHEST ON RECORD FOR ANY AUGUST. THE 24-HOUR RAINFALL OF 416.2 MM RECORDED BETWEEN 11 A.M. ON AUGUST 24 AND 11 A.M. ON AUGUST 25 WAS THE HIGHEST IN ANY AUGUST AND THE THIRD HIGHEST IN ANY MONTH. THE TWO-DAY TOTAL OF 511.6 MM RECORDED ON AUGUST 24 AND 25 CREATED A NEW TWO-DAY RECORD FOR AUGUST AND HAS ONLY BEEN EXCEEDED ON TWO PREVIOUS OCCASIONS IN OTHER MONTHS.

/S.ITEMBER

E