At 971mm of rain, August second soggiest since 1884
With a record amount of rain over two days, last month was the second-wettest August in the city since 1884, according to the Hong Kong Observatory.
On August 19 and 20, 546mm of rain fell, the wettest two days for the month on record.
Since January, the accumulated rainfall added up to 2,844.2mm, about 60 per cent more than the normal figure of 1,707.4mm. The total rainfall for August was 971.3mm, more than double the average 391.4mm.
Observatory scientific officer Dr Lee Tsz-cheung said the unusually high amount of rainfall last month mostly resulted from Tropical Storm Sanvu and a strong southwest airstream that struck Hong Kong on August 12 and 19, respectively.
Sanvu entered the South China Sea in the morning of August 12 and more than 150mm of rainfall was recorded in the central and western part of Hong Kong Island on August 13. A No1 Standby Signal was issued for the first time this year.
A southwest airstream brought more than 200mm of rainfall on August 19, and over the next two days there were more than 30 reports of flooding and more than 140 reports of landslides. On August 20, a man was killed in a landslide, the first such case in 10 years.
