A slightly cooler October
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Under the influence of the northeast monsoon, the local weather was generally fine and dry from October 1 to 8, with a few morning showers on October 1. With abundant sunshine, temperatures at the Hong Kong Observatory rose to 31.4 degrees on the afternoon of October 5, the highest of the month. Affected by an easterly airstream, there were sunny periods and a few showers on October 9.
A cold front crossed the coastal areas of Guangdong on the afternoon of October 10. Heavy showers associated with the cold front brought more than 20 millimetres of rainfall to most parts of the territory, with more than 40 millimetres of rainfall recorded in the urban areas and Shek Kong. The northeast monsoon brought mainly cloudy and cooler weather, as well as a few rain patches to Hong Kong in the next four days. With an easterly airstream setting in, it was cloudy with showers on October 15.
A weak cold front crossed the coast of Guangdong on the morning of October 16. The associated northeast monsoon brought some rain and slightly cooler weather to Hong Kong on October 16 and 17. Under the influence of a strong easterly airstream, it was windy and cooler with rain patches on October 18. The temperature at the Hong Kong Observatory dropped to 20.9 degrees under the rain on the morning of October 18, the lowest of the month. Apart from a few rain patches, the local weather became gradually brighter during the day on October 19 and 20.
Dominated by an anticyclone above southern China, the local weather became generally fine on October 21 and the next morning. With a weak northeast monsoon arriving at the coast of Guangdong on October 22, the weather turned mainly cloudy with light rain patches in the afternoon and for the next two days. Under the influence of anticyclone aloft, the weather in Hong Kong became brighter with sunny periods on October 25 and 26. A cold front moved across the coastal areas of Guangdong on the night of October 26. Under the influence of the dry northeast monsoon, the weather in Hong Kong became fine and very dry with cooler mornings from October 27 to 30. Meanwhile, tropical cyclone Yutu entered the northern part of the South China Sea and edged closer to the coast of Guangdong on October 31. Locally, it was very dry with winds picking up gradually from the north that day.
Three tropical cyclones occurred over the South China Sea and the western North Pacific in October 2018.
Details of issuance and cancellation of various warnings/signals in October are summarised in Table 1. Monthly meteorological figures and departures from normal for October are tabulated in Table 2.
Ends/Friday, November 2, 2018
Issued at HKT 16:57
Issued at HKT 16:57
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