Rain, Rain Go Away
The sun is shining outside my flat. This may not seem to be world-shaking news but after the wettest month in the weather-recorded history of Hong Kong, it is a welcome change.
The record was set in May 1889, so we can't blame the deluge on global warming. There was only six days without rain in June and 56% of the average "yearly" rainfall fell in June. The final precipitation total was 1245mm.
The good news is that there were few landslides and closed roads and only two fatalities attributable to the storms. Hong Kong Island which is basically a huge rock had no problems shedding the rain. The wind from tropical storm Fengshen caused some problems though and a "Black" rainstorm earlier in the month hit Lantau Island pretty hard.
The phenomenon has been attributed to this year's monsoon which is much stronger than usual; drawing moist air from the Indian Ocean across the Indo-Chinese peninsula right up to Hong Kong.
"So what?" you may ask? Well, if most of the rain, we can expect, has already fallen; then that means the rest of the year, including the typhoon season, will be relatively dry. Unless, of course, this turns out to be a record wet year. But I'm being optimistic. So firm up your plans to visit or, if you live here, schedule your outdoor activities. The rest of the year looks to be dry and sunny.