Hong Kong's Tseung Kwan O district has recorded the highest cumulative rainfall in China this year with 2,503 millimeters, the Hong Kong Observatory revealed in a weather blog post on Thursday, attributing the phenomenon to concentrated storm activity and unique geographical factors.
The Observatory's "Mid-term Review of Hong Kong's Rainy Season" noted that as of August 20, the Tsim Sha Tsui headquarters had measured 1,974.7 millimeters of rainfall, approximately 20 percent above normal. However, regional distribution varied significantly, with Tuen Mun and Yuen Long receiving less than 1,400 millimeters while areas including Tai Mo Shan, Tate's Cairn and southeastern Hong Kong (covering eastern Kowloon, Tseung Kwan O and eastern Hong Kong Island) exceeded 2,200 millimeters.
The weather authority explained that heavy rain development possesses considerable randomness, leading to substantial annual variations across districts. This year's exceptional rainfall in eastern Kowloon and Tseung Kwan O resulted primarily from the distribution of consecutive storms between late July and mid-August. Higher elevation areas including Tsz Wan Shan, Tate's Cairn and Tai Mo Shan naturally receive more precipitation due to orographic effects.
Notable events included August 4's storm that dumped 174 millimeters on Tseung Kwan O—2.4 times the 72.2 millimeters recorded at the Observatory headquarters—driven by low-level easterly jets interacting with active southwesterly monsoon flow. Historical data from 1992-2024 shows Tseung Kwan O's annual rainfall sometimes exceeds and sometimes falls below the Observatory's readings, demonstrating natural variability.
