The Weather of February 2016

2 March 2016

    With frequent replenishments of the winter monsoon, February 2016 was cooler than usual. The monthly mean temperature was 15.5 degrees, 1.3 degrees below the normal figure of 16.8 degrees. The month was also drier than usual with 24.8 millimetres of rainfall, only about 46 percent of the normal figure of 54.4 millimetres. However, due to an extremely rainy January, the accumulated rainfall of 291.7 millimetres in the first two months of the year was more than three times the normal figure of 79.1 millimetres for the same period.

    Under the influence of an intense winter monsoon, the weather in Hong Kong was cold and cloudy with rain patches for the first three days of the month. Temperature at the Hong Kong Observatory on the morning of 2 February fell to a minimum of 9.4 degrees, the lowest of the month. With the arrival of a dry continental air mass, local weather turned fine on 4 February. With even drier air from the north spreading towards the south China coastal areas, it remained sunny with cold mornings in the next four days as daytime relative humidity dropped below 30 percent. Frost was also reported in Ta Kwu Ling and Hok Tau on the morning of 8 February 2016 on Chinese New Year Day.

    With the winter monsoon moderating gradually and replaced by a moist easterly airstream, local temperatures climbed up during the Chinese New Year holiday period. The weather became cloudy with a few rain patches on 10 February. It was warm, humid and foggy with the visibility at Waglan Island occasionally falling to around 100 metres in the next three days. With sunny periods during the day, temperature at the Hong Kong Observatory on 13 February rose to a maximum of 25.9 degrees, the highest of the month.

    After a warm and humid morning on 14 February, a cold front crossed the coast of Guangdong on the afternoon that day, bringing appreciably cooler weather to the territory. The weather remained cloudy and cold with rain patches on 15-18 February. A replenishment of the winter monsoon reached Hong Kong on the night of 19 February and the arrival of dry continental air brought some sunny periods the next day.

    With another replenishment of the winter monsoon on 23 February, the weather in Hong Kong stayed mainly cloudy and cool with some rain patches up to 26 February. Affected by a continental airstream, it then turned fine and dry towards the end of the month.

Plants coated with frost in Hok Tau on the morning of 8 February 2016

(Courtesy of Ms Kwok Yee Shan)

Sea fog occurred near Ting Kau Bridge on the morning of 14 February 2016

(Courtesy of Mr Jeffrey Poon)

There was no tropical cyclone over the South China Sea and the western North Pacific in the month.

Details of issuance and cancellation of various warnings/signals in the month are summarized in Tables 1.1 to 1.4. Monthly meteorological figures and departures from normal for February are tabulated in Table 2.

Warnings and Signals issued in February 2016

Table 1.1 Strong Monsoon Signal

Beginning Time		Ending Time
Day/Month	HKT	Day/Month	HKT
6 / 2	0015	7 / 2	0445
21 / 2	0805	22 / 2	0900

Table 1.2 Fire Danger Warnings

Colour	Beginning Time		Ending Time
Colour	Day/Month	HKT	Day/Month	HKT
Red	6 / 2	0600	10 / 2	0745
Yellow	20 / 2	1100	20 / 2	2300
Yellow	28 / 2	0600	28 / 2	1930
Red	29 / 2	0945	29 / 2	1945

Table 1.3 Frost Warning

Beginning Time		Ending Time
Day/Month	HKT	Day/Month	HKT
7 / 2	1945	8 / 2	0845

Table 1.4 Cold Weather Warning

Beginning Time		Ending Time
Day/Month	HKT	Day/Month	HKT
31 / 1	1620	9 / 2	1000
14 / 2	1620	18 / 2	1615
23 / 2	1620	25 / 2	1415

Table 2 Figures and Departures from Normal - February 2016

Meteorological Element	Figure of the Month	Departure from Normal*
Mean Daily Maximum Air Temperature	18.2 degrees C	0.7 degree below normal
Mean Air Temperature	15.5 degrees C	1.3 degrees below normal
Mean Daily Minimum Air Temperature	13.4 degrees C	1.6 degrees below normal
Mean Dew Point Temperature	10.4 degrees C	2.6 degrees below normal
Mean Relative Humidity	74 %	6 % below normal
Mean Cloud Amount	68 %	6 % below normal
Total Rainfall	24.8 mm	29.6 mm below normal
Number of hours of Reduced VisibilityΔ	90 hours	48.6 hours below normal§
Total Bright Sunshine Duration	103.3 hours	9.1 hours above normal
Mean Daily Global Solar Radiation	10.64 Megajoule / square metre	1.25 Megajoule above normal
Total Evaporation	72.7 mm	12.8 mm above normal

Remarks :	All measurements were made at the Hong Kong Observatory except sunshine, solar radiation and evaporation which were recorded at King's Park Meteorological Station and visibility which was observed at the Hong Kong International Airport.
Δ	The visibility readings at the Hong Kong International Airport are based on hourly observations by professional meteorological observers in 2004 and before, and average readings over the 10-minute period before the clock hour of the visibility meter near the middle of the south runway from 2005 onwards. The change of the data source in 2005 is an improvement of the visibility assessment using instrumented observations following the international trend. Before 10 October 2007, the number of hours of reduced visibility at the Hong Kong International Airport in 2005 and thereafter displayed in this web page was based on hourly visibility observations by professional meteorological observers. Since 10 October 2007, the data have been revised using the average visibility readings over the 10-minute period before the clock hour, as recorded by the visibility meter near the middle of the south runway.
* Departure from 1981 - 2010 climatological normal, except for number of hours of reduced visibility
§ Departure from mean value between 1997 and 2015

daily values of selected meteorological elements for HK for February 2016

The percentile map of mean temperature of February 2016

Remarks :

Extremely high: above 95th percentile
Above normal: between 75th and 95th percentile
Normal: between 25th and 75th percentile
Below normal: between 5th and 25th percentile
Extremely low: below 5th percentile
Percentile and 5-day running average values are
computed based on the data from 1981 to 2010

Rainfall Map For February 2016 (isohyets are in millimetres)

Extract of Meteorological Observations in Hong Kong for February 2016