The Weather of June 2002

    The weather of June 2002 was warmer and sunnier than usual. The mean temperature of 28.8 degrees was 1.0 degrees above normal, which ranked the second highest for June.   The total bright sunshine duration was 181.2 hours, about 13 percent above normal.   It was also drier than usual with 237.6 millimetres of rainfall recorded during the month, 37 percent below normal.  The accumulated rainfall since the beginning of the year was 793.9 millimetres, 20 percent below normal for the same period.

    Under the influence of a trough of low pressure over the South China coastal area, there were scattered showers and isolated thunderstorms in the first three days of the month.   Weather improved with long sunny periods in the next five days as the trough of low pressure edged southward.    On 6 June, Noguri formed as a tropical depression over the northern part of the South China Sea.  It then moved eastward away from Hong Kong, bringing little effect to local weather.

    The weather became unsettled again on 9 June when thunderstorms bearing clouds developed along the south China coast.    Rainfall was heaviest on 11 June, necessitating the issuance of the Amber Rainstorm Warning.   As the rainband shifted north on 13 June, there were only a few showers in the morning.  It was hot with plenty of sunshine in the next three days.

    The southwest monsoon became active on 16 June, marking the beginning of typical summer monsoon weather of sunshine and showers with isolated thunderstorms.    The showery weather continued when the southwest monsoon gave way to southeasterlies on 21 June, but there was significantly more sunshine.   Temperatures were on the rise in the ensuing days, reaching a maximum of 33.5 degrees on 25 June, the hottest day so far this year.   The Very Hot Weather Warning, issued for the first time this year on 24 June, continued to be in force for five consecutive days.   With cloudier weather and more showers, the maximum temperatures recorded at the Observatory Headquarters stayed below 33 degrees during the last two days of the month.

    A total of 3 tropical cyclones occurred in the western North Pacific and the South China Sea in the month.

    Details of issuance and cancellation of various warnings/signals in the month are summarized in Tables 1.1 to 1.3.  Monthly meteorological figures and departures from normal for June are tabulated in Table 2.