ENG-1964 — Page 226

ROYAL OBSERVATORY

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dry. February was colder than usual and some frost was reported in the New Territories. March and April were generally dry, warm and sunny. May was also comparatively warm and sunny but typhoon Viola brought nearly 12 inches which is more than the normal rainfall for the whole of May. Typhoon Viola is only the second storm in 80 years to cause gales in Hong Kong in May, the previous storm being typhoon Alice in 1961. Moving towards the north-north-west, typhoon Viola passed about 50 miles west-south- west of Hong Kong at 9 a.m. on 28th May. There were three hours of gales at the observatory and five ships went aground. There were no fatalities.

June was a fairly normal month but although some rain was recorded on 28 days out of 30 the total rainfall was well below normal. Typhoon Winnie caused considerable damage in Manila on 30th June and then moved west-north-west across the China Sea. It passed about 260 miles south of Hong Kong on 1st July causing strong winds but no gales. In spite of typhoon Winnie, which caused nearly two inches of rain, the rainfall in July was the lowest of any July on record. The highest temperature of the year 33.9°C, was recorded on 7th August during the approach of typhoon Ida which passed about 55 miles south-south-west of Hong Kong on a north-westerly track just before midnight on 8th-9th August. There were only two hours of gales but the per- sistent rain caused about 20,000 cubic yards of mud to slide down a hillside and pile up around a newly built resettlement estate. The five known deaths were all caused by this avalanche of mud, and more heavy rainfall during the latter half of August caused further landslides. However the heavy rain brought a welcome end to the water emergency and Hong Kong received a 24-hour supply of water on 1st September.

Local storm signals were displayed for a record 14 days during September to warn of typhoons Ruby, Sally, Tilda and Billie. Ruby was probably the second most severe typhoon to affect Hong Kong since the war. It passed about 15 miles south-west of the observatory at 1.50 p.m. on 5th September, moving towards the west-north-west. It was fortunate that the time of passage did not coincide with normal high tide. However, sustained hurricane force winds caused widespread damage throughout the Colony. Three ships were sunk and 12 grounded. Casualty figures included 38 dead and six missing.