Weather watchers say April showers will make way for a magic May
Yesterday's clear skies belied the fact that an early morning downpour dropped more than 60mm of rain on some areas of the northern New Territories.
In fact, so laden with moisture was the low pressure trough that passed over the city in the small hours that those dedicated souls pulling the early shift at the Hong Kong Observatory hoisted an amber rainstorm signal shortly after 6.30am.
Observatory scientific officer Li Yuet-sim said with a high pressure ridge on the way Hongkongers could, after an unsettled period today, expect to have fine weather at the weekend.
'There's going to be some east-southeast winds so we anticipate some more sunshine towards the end of the week,' she said.
It would probably be a good time for people to get out and enjoy the natural wonders of Hong Kong, even though Ms Li and her counterparts will be keeping a weather eye on atmospheric conditions at the observatory.
'We have shift duties,' she said, 'so we'll be working over the weekend ... but it's good news for the public. Anyway, I love my job.'
She said April was turning out to be average, with total rainfall so far sitting at 146.3mm, against a mean of 161.5mm. The wettest April so far recorded was in 2000, when 547.7mm of rain fell, while the driest was 1994, when a paltry 6mm slipped practically unnoticed out of a passing cloud.
