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HONG฀KON G฀S฀CLIMATE฀ Hong Kong' s climate i s sub-tropical being influence d by the col d an d dr y northeast monsoo n i n winter an d th e hot, wet, southeast monsoon in summer. Important climatic features ar e identifie d i n Tabl e 1 . Th e prevailin g win d directions and speeds of the two monsoons influence the sea and, as we shall see, are critical to our understanding of the forces that have shaped the Cape d'Aguilar Marine Reserve. Under th e influenc e o f th e northeas t monsoon , ai r temperatures fall to a mean minimum of 15.2°C in February. Under th e influenc e o f th e southeas t monsoon , ai r temperatures ris e t o a mea n maximu m o f 27.9° C i n July . Similarly, rainfal l i s lowest i n winter , a mea n o f 24. 9 m m falling i n December . Precipitatio n i s highest i n summer , a maximum o f 401.2 m m falling i n June. At Wagla n Island , the prevailing wind is from the NNE in winter, that is, from around Novembe r t o April , turnin g t o th e eas t i n spring , from May, and turning yet further to the SE and even to the SSW in summer, that is, from around June to September, but then reverting back to the east in autumn, that is , October and, finally, back to the NNE as winter establishes itself again. Wind speeds are generally highest in autumn, 9.4 nvsec'1 in October an d November , declinin g t o a minimum o f 5. 6 nvsec l in May. Such figures apply only in non-typhoon years, for should a typhoon ente r the South Chin a Se a in summer and approach the coast of Hong Kong, wind speeds multipl y many times . Hon g Kon g i s most likel y t o b e affecte d b y typhoons in September although tropical cyclones of varying strength can occur at any time between May and November . O n average , about 31 tropical cyclones form over the North Pacific an d China sea s ever y yea r an d about hal f o f thes e reach typhoon strength, that is with a maximum wind spee d of 118 km-hr1 or more. Each summer some of these approac h Hong Kon g causin g stron g winds , intens e rainfal l an d mountainous seas . Table 1 . Climate dat a for Hong Kong. Values for wind speed and direction are for Waglan Island (1990), salinity is for Cape d'Aguilar (1989). Royal Observatory, Hong Kong. Month J F M A M J J A S o N D Mean air temp. (°C) 15.4 15.2 17.5 21.3 25.2 27.3 27.9 27.7 27.1 24.6 20.9 17.3 Mean rainfall (mm) 31.7 46.4 72.2 135.8 292.7 401.2 371.7 370.8 278.8 99.2 43.1 24.9 Sea Surface temp. (°C) 17.6 16.6 18.8 21.2 24.8 27.2 26.6 28.1 28.8 27.4 25.1 19.6 Wind speed (m.se) 8.0 6.8 6.6 6.8 5.6 6.9 6.0 6.9 6.2 9.4 9.3 7.1 Wind direction NEE NNE NEE NEE E EES SW sww EES EES EES E Salinity m 32 34 33 29 30 31 30 30 29 33 33 33 ...

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