ENG-1961 — Page 311

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COMMUNICATIONS

typhoons of 1936 and 1937 are shown in Appendix X for comparison.

A dry and sunny January brought only one-eighth of the normal rainfall. In contrast, February was wet and dull and had eighteen rainy days. A warm and sunny March had less rainfall than usual. During this month there were six days with fog in the harbour or approaches, and for seventeen days the mean relative humidity was 90% or greater. In April, the weather was changeable and unsettled as usual, with periods of thunderstorms and fog. Particularly severe thunderstorms occurred during the last ten days of the month, and short lived flooding occurred in parts of Tsuen Wan and elsewhere in the New Territories.

On 16th May a depression formed over the south-east part of the China Sea. It reached a position about 220 miles south of Hong Kong on 18th May and there attained typhoon intensity and was named 'Alice'. The storm then moved north towards the Colony at ten knots. Local storm signal No 1 was hoisted at 4 p.m. on the 18th and was followed by No 3 at 6.40 p.m. Winds increased steadily during the early hours of the 19th May and No 7 signal was hoisted at 5.50 a.m. and changed to No 9 at 8.35 a.m. By 9 a.m. winds had reached gale force at the Observatory and gusts up to 69 knots were being recorded. Radar and other observations indicated that the eye of the typhoon would cross the harbour area at about 1 p.m., so No 10 signal was hoisted at 10.30 a.m. At the Royal Observatory the easterly winds reached their peak of 43 knots-with gusts to 89 knots-at midday; the wind then decreased and became calm at four minutes past one. The calm persisted for sixteen minutes during which occasional shafts of sunshine emerged through breaks in the thin cloud.

At 1 p.m. No 6 signal replaced No 10 to give warning that south-westerly gales would set in as the eye passed northward between Cheung Chau and Hong Kong Island. By 3 p.m. the south-westerlies had increased to gale force in the harbour area and they rose to 42 knots by 4 p.m. with gusts of 74 knots. Thereafter the wind decreased steadily and No 6 signal was replaced by No 3 at 7.30 p.m. and all signals were lowered at 2 a.m. on 20th May. 3.59 inches of rain were recorded at the Observatory during the 34 hours that local signals were hoisted. The peak gust of 89 knots and the minimum pressure of 981.6 millibars are both records for