XN000022-1978-11-17 — Page 2

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 1978

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OCTOBER RAINFALL WAS FIVE TIMES MORE THAN NORMAL

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THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY RECORDED 501.4 MM OF RAIN LAST MONTH FIVE TIMES MORE THAN NORMAL AND THE FOURTH HIGHEST FOR OCTOBER.

OF THIS FIGURE MORE THAN HALF (284.8 MM) WAS RECORDED ON OCTOBER 17, THE HIGHEST DAILY RAINFALL FOR ANY OCTOBER SINCE 1923.

THE TOTAL RAINFALL FROM THE BEGINNING OF THIS YEAR TO THE END OF LAST MONTH AMOUNTED TO 2,521.9 MM COMPARED WITH THE NORMAL FIGURE OF 2,182.3 MM FOR THE SAME PERIOD.

A SPOKESMAN FOR THE OBSERVATORY ALSO POINTED OUT THAT THE RAINFALL OF 2,102 MM BETWEEN MAY AND OCTOBER LIES WITHIN THE RANGE OF 1,800 - 2,200 MM AS PREDICTED IN ITS WEATHER BULLETIN AT THE BEGINNING OF MAY,

THE MONTH WAS ALSO THE MOST WINDY IN RECENT YEARS BECAUSE OF THE INTENSE CONTINENTAL ANTICYCLONE OVER CHINA COMBINED WITH THREE TROPICAL CYCLONES OVER THE SOUTH CHINA SEA, THE MINIMUM TEMPERATURE OF 13.5 DEGREES CELSIUS ON OCTOBER 30 WAS THE LOWEST TEMPERATURE EVER RECORDED IN OCTOBER.

DURING THE MONTH THERE WERE EIGHT TROPICAL CYCLONES OVER THE SOUTH CHINA SEA AND THE WESTERN NORTH PACIFIC. FOR THREE OF THEM TYPHOON LOLA, SEVERE TROPICAL STORM NINA AND TYPHOON RITA -- TROPICAL CYCLONE WARNING SIGNALS WERE HOISTED IN HONG KONG,

AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MONTH THERE WERE HEAVY SHOWERS AND STRONG EASTERLIES ASSOCIATED WITH TYPHOON LOLA. HOWEVER, THE WEATHER GRADUALLY IMPROVED AS LOLA WEAKENED AND CROSSED HAINAN ON OCTOBER 2. A COLD FRONT PASSED HONG KONG IN THE EARLY MORNING OF OCTOBER 5 AND THE WEATHER BECAME CLOUDY WITH SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS. CONDITIONS IMPROVED ON OCTOBER 7 AND THE FOLLOWING SEVEN DAYS WERE FINE AND DRY.

ON CHUNG YEUNG FESTIVAL, OCTOBER 10, A TOTAL OF 150 FIRES WERE REPORTED DESPITE THE RED FIRE DANGER WARNINGS ISSUED BY THE OBSERVATORY.

THE APPROACH OF NINA ENDED THE FINE AND DRY WEATHER AND CONDITIONS BECAME CLOUDY ON OCTOBER 15. HEAVY RAIN SET IN DURING THE FOLLOWING AFTERNOON AND PERSISTED UNTIL THE EVENING OF OCTOBER 17. THE HEAVIEST DOWNPOUR OCCURRED BETWEEN MIDNIGHT AND 3 A.M. ON OCTOBER 17 WHEN THE OBSERVATORY RECORDED 105.2 MM OF RAINFALL. CONDITIONS BEGAN TO IMPROVE ON OCTOBER 18 AND MAINLY FINE WEATHER WAS AGAIN EXPERIENCED FROM OCTOBER 21 UNTIL OCTOBER 27. VERY DRY CONDITIONS WERE EXPERIENCED FROM OCTOBER 28 UNTIL THE END OF THE MONTH AND THE LAST TWO DAYS WERE BRILLIANTLY FINE.

DURING THE MONTH 19 AIRCRAFT WERE DIVERTED FROM HONG KONG DUE TO ADVERSE WEATHER CONDITIONS. A THUNDERSTORM WARNING WAS ISSUED ON OCTOBER 5 AND A HEAVY RAIN WARNING ON OCTOBER 17.