The Weather of February 2004

    February 2004 was warmer and slightly wetter than usual. The total bright sunshine duration of 140.7 hours was 43.0 hours above the normal figure. The monthly rainfall was 51.8 millimetres, about 8 per cent more than the normal figure of 48.0 millimetres. The monthly mean temperature of 17.2 degrees was 1.3 degrees above the normal figure.

    Under the influence of a maritime airstream, weather in Hong Kong on the first day of February 2004 was mainly cloudy. It became misty the next morning. The arrival of a cold front in evening marked the beginning of a spell of cold and rainy weather in Hong Kong. The temperature fell to a minimum of 7.8 degrees on the Spring Lantern Festival on 5 February, making it the coldest such Festival on record. On 8 February, there were reports of glaze* at Tai Mo Shan where the air temperature was close to freezing. It turned fine and dry on 9 February while the temperature that morning dropped further to 7.7 degrees, the lowest recorded so far this winter.

    The fine and dry conditions persisted until 15 February. There were reports of haze in lighter wind conditions on 14 February. As winds freshened from the northeast on 16 February, it became cloudy with a few light rain patches. The weather became brighter in the next 5 days, but there was mist in the morning as a maritime airstream established itself along the coast of Guangdong. It also became milder and the temperature reached 24.8 degrees on 22 February, the highest of the month.

    A cold front crossed the coast of Guangdong during the early hours of 23 February. Winds strengthened from the east and the weather became cooler. Winds moderated on 25 February and there was haze in Hong Kong. At the same time, a wide band of clouds drifted in from the west, which brought traces of rainfall to Hong Kong on 25 and 26 February.

    Under the influence of a ridge of high pressure, it became sunny on 27 February. A warm and moist airstream set in from the southeast on 28 February and the weather became mainly cloudy. There were reports of fog patches on the last day of the month.

    One tropical cyclone occurred in the western North Pacific in the month. 

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

   Note * glaze is a smooth deposit of ice, generally transparent, formed by the freezing of supercooled drizzle droplets or raindrops on the objects the surface temperature of which is below or slightly above zero degree Celsius.