XN000022-1987-01-18 — Page 14

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SUNDAY, JANUARY 18, 1987

JULY WAS WETTER THAN USUAL, WITH THE TOTAL RAINFALL OF 547.3 MM BEING 73 PER CENT ABOVE NORMAL.

TYPHOON PEGGY, THE FIRST TYPHOON OF THE YEAR, BROUGHT ABOUT

85 PER CENT OF THE MONTH'S RAINFALL ON JULY 3 AND 4.

HEAVY SHOWERS AND SQUALLY THUNDERSTORMS OCCURRED ON JULY 3 WHEN A MOISTURE-LADEN SOUTHWEST MONSOON AFFECTED THE TERRITORY. THERE WERE 39 CASES OF MINOR FLOODING AND FIVE LANDSLIPS IN VARIOUS PARTS OF HONG KONG.

TYPHOON PEGGY CROSSED LUZON ON JULY 9 AND HEADED TOWARDS THE SOUTH CHINA COAST. WITH LIGHT WINDS OFF THE LAND AHEAD OF PEGGY THE TEMPERATURE IN HONG KONG ROSE TO 34.8 DEGREES IN THE AFTERNOON OF JULY 10, MAKING IT THE FOURTH HOTTEST JULY DAY ON RECORD.

ON JULY 11, THE WEATHER DETERIORATED RAPIDLY UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF PEGGY WHICH MADE LANDFALL NEAR SHANWEI IN THE AFTERNOON. STRONG TO GALE FORCE WINDS ACCOMPANIED BY WIDESPREAD AND FREQUENT SQUALLY SHOWERS BATTERED THE TERRITORY UNTIL THE MORNING OF JULY 12.

AUGUST WAS HOTTER THAN USUAL WITH A MEAN TEMPERATURE OF 29 DEGREES WHICH WAS THE THIRD HIGHEST FOR AUGUST ON RECORD.

THUNDERSTORMS WERE FREQUENT DURING THE MONTH. FROM AUGUST 9 TO 11, HONG KONG WAS AFFECTED BY SQUALLY HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS AS A TROPICAL DEPRESSION OVER THE SOUTH CHINA SEA MOVED TOWARDS HAINAN. OVER 300 MM OF RAINFALL WERE RECORDED AT TAI PO, SHA TAU KOK AND SAI KUNG.

SEVERE TROPICAL STORM WAYNE FIRST APPROACHED HONG KONG FROM THE SOUTH, RESULTING IN FRESH TO STRONG EASTERLY WINDS LOCALLY ON AUGUST 20. WINDS REACHED GALE FORCE OFFSHORE BRIEFLY OVERNIGHT AS WAYNE ACCELERATED EAST-NORTHEASTWARDS AWAY FROM HONG KONG.

ON AUGUST 21, AFTER A VERY HOT AND SUNNY DAY, SQUALLY THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED OVERLAND AND MOVED SOUTHEASTWARDS TO AFFECT HONG KONG IN THE EVENING.

AFTER CROSSING TAIWAN, WAYNE WEAKENED TO A TROPICAL STORM AND MOVED SOUTHWESTWARDS BACK INTO THE SOUTH CHINA SEA. AS IT HEADED WESTWARDS TOWARDS DONGS HA, LOCAL SIGNALS WERE HOISTED A SECOND TIME ON AUGUST 25 BUT LOWERED THE NEXT DAY AS WAYNE MOVED SOUTHWESTWARDS AWAY FROM HONG KONG.

WAYNE THEN TURNED NORTHEASTWARDS TO AFFECT THE BASHI CHANNEL AND PHILIPPINES. IT LATER STRENGTHENED TO A TYPHOON, HEADING WESTWARDS AGAIN TO AFFECT HONG KONG A THIRD TIME ON

SEPTEMBER 4 AND 5.

SEPTEMBER WAS