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also brought problems with communications, with aconsequent effect on the amount of data available, especiallyfor forecasting.The post-war aviation boom was another continuingdrain on the Observatory. In 1955, Mr. C. S. Rarnage,Acting Director, outlined the problem:Since the war the insistent but vital demands of aviation havelargely dictated the Observatory's operations. The needs ofaviation have been satisfied but only by reducing or postponingother legitimate activities . . . Our forecast service [foraviation], separated from the Observatory itself, is designed andlocated to meet aviation needs; inevitably forecasts for thegeneral public (including local typhoon warnings) and forshipping have suffered.Not only did the continuing growth of aviation put suchlarge-scale pressure on the Observatory, there were other,local, problems. Ramage describes them:Even under the best conditions, forecasting is trying andexacting work. At Kai Tak, where the forecaster is continuallyinterrupted, conditions are not suitable for accurate forecasting... In the coming year it is hoped to locate senior forecasterswhere careful uninterrupted thinking and helpful consultationsare possible. This move should raise standards generally and inparticular greatly improve services for the general public.Heywood, Director since 1946, retired in October 1955,and was succeeded by Dr. I. E. M. Watts, who was able toreport that more research papers had been published in1955-56 than in any previous year because more Observatoryofficers were interested in - and engaged in - research.The year 1955 was notable for another reason: it was thesunniest year in Hong Kong up to that time with 2279hours of sunshine - 267 hours more than average.The sunshine, while enjoyable in itself, had a more sinistereffect -drought. Watts reported:Until the end of March [1955] the Colony suffered the mostprolonged and severe drought since records were started . . .Between 5 and 12 January an intense cold spell brought the75
temperature down to 3J°C at the Observatory, the lowest for55 years, and to minus 3.1°C at Sek Kong in the NewTerritories, the lowest temperature ever recorded in the Colony.There was indeed a drought, but it broke in April, and thetotal rainfall in 1955 was 2 350 mm, 126 mm above average.For a description of rainmaking experiments in HongKong, see p. 107.The following year saw completion of a major reorganisationof the Observatory, including the establishment ofa Central Forecasting Office to provide meteorologicalinformation for the public, the armed services and shipping,and an aviation forecasting office at Kai Tak (obtainingweather analyses from the central office) to concentrateentirely on aviation needs.May is normally a wet month in Hong Kong - thewettest month on record was May 1889, with 1 240.5 mmof rain. May 1957 brought nearly 900 mm - more than threetimes normal, and clearly illustrated the irregularities ofrainfall distribution. On 21 May 1957, Beacon Hill, onlysome 6.5 km northwest of the Observatory, had 716.5 mm —five times that at the Observatory on the same day.(May 1963 was to be a bizarre month for rainfall, with atotal of only 6 mm, or 2 per cent of normal.)In 1958-59, the Observatory's emphasis was on therecording and tabulation of data for the InternationalGeophysical Year. Aviation needs again emerged as aproblem area. Extra staff needed for a 24-hour service at theairport were recruited and trained, while the increasingnumber of high altitude flights by commercial jets meantthat additional upper-air information was required.More weather records were set in 1959, which was one ofthe hottest and wettest years on record. The mean annualtemperature of 23.1°C had been equalled on only threeprevious occasions, and annual rainfall was more than athird above average.It was also the year of one of the Observatory's mostunusual tasks, as Watts recorded:76
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UNIVERSITY OFHQ,NG KONG>**"/////»I
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The Royal Observatory, Hong KongJIM
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The effect of climate on human cond
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IntroductionIifc on earth is possib
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Theories had been developed: as ear
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Then came another important scienti
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thirty feet high, huge grotesque lo
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Ancient Chinese astronomical instru
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Chapter 1KSJSJOJ/ do think that, of
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work of the observatory made no pro
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its physical observations of the ph
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period. The main building was recta
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on metal pipe frames, were too ligh
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Blackhead's Hill (Signal Hill) and
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many previous storms when the wind
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Page 43 and 44: few minutes' warning of one of the
Page 45: water height by up to several metre
Page 50 and 51: I he early European traders, mercha
Page 52 and 53: the sun's rays in tropical climates
Page 54 and 55: coast; trees are broken or rooted u
Page 56 and 57: Professor S. Wells Williams, anothe
Page 58 and 59: We had a striking example in Hong K
Page 60 and 61: Hong Kong lies just within the trop
Page 62 and 63: Chapter 3OFCOTWETSEverybody talks a
Page 64 and 65: The sun's disc had a diameter on th
Page 66 and 67: Such detailed rules failed to impre
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Page 70 and 71: crossed into Hong Kong, followed by
Page 72 and 73: inlet of Tola Harbour in the New Te
Page 74 and 75: The war in Europe had spurred the d
Page 76: Inset: The backs of these cigarette
Page 79 and 80: It 8 am on 8 December 1941, 12 Japa
Page 81 and 82: The records are all in pencil, neat
Page 83 and 84: The civil staff was soon put to the
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Page 89 and 90: moving directly towards Hong Kong,
Page 91 and 92: If the weather in 1965 was comparat
Page 93 and 94: since Typhoon Shirley in 1968. It h
Page 95 and 96: Radar observations early on 26 July
Page 97 and 98: almost as accurately as from a reco
Page 99 and 100: Waves smash over the praya at Kenne
Page 101 and 102: Chapter 5CLICKINGCCFTHEAt the prese
Page 103 and 104: November and December are normally
Page 105 and 106: move them a substantial distance in
Page 107 and 108: .. . wind blowing through the long
Page 109 and 110: for a series of fine weather and ca
Page 111 and 112: The typhoon of Saturday September 2
Page 113 and 114: Above: How the 1874 typhoon destroy
Page 115 and 116: Above: Aftermath of the 1923 blow w
Page 117 and 118: its of storm water which could be s
Page 119 and 120: he splitting of time into microscop
Page 121 and 122: The Third Congress of the World Met
Page 123 and 124: small craft. It includes 24-hour ar
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Page 127 and 128: The marine meteorology section of t
Page 129 and 130: The water shortage having become ve
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Page 133 and 134: The shock occurring yesterday after
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acquired its own radar, which was u
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grass. Soil temperatures are read f
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* Vertical section through the atmo
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of Mineral Resources recommended a
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Much of Hong Kong's population live
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BibliographyABEL, Clarke, Narrative
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IndexAbel, Clarkevisit to Hong Kong
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Macdonnell, Governor Sir Richard, 2
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