The weather in Hong Kong was much gloomier and wetter than usual last month, with the total rainfall recorded being the second highest for July, the Hong Kong Observatory said on Tuesday.

The HKO said in a statement that the inclement weather was mainly due to broad troughs of low pressure, an active southerly airstream and tropical cyclones Maysak and Noul.

“The total rainfall recorded at the Hong Kong Observatory Headquarters in the month was 790.3 millimeters, more than double the July normal of 385.8 millimeters and the second highest on record for July,” the statement reads.

The accumulated rainfall in the first seven months of the year was 1,977.6 mm, about 35 percent above the normal of 1,468.2 mm and the ninth highest on record for the same period, the HKO said.

It said the total sunshine duration last month was 122.2 hours, about 38 percent below the normal of 197.3 hours, and was the lowest on record for July.

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The mean amount of cloud was 81 percent, nine percentage points above the normal of 72 percent and one of the second highest on record for July, the observatory added.

The HKO issued the Standby Signal No 1 in the morning of July 2, the first tropical cyclone warning signal of the year, for Typhoon Maysak, which skirted past Hainan the next day and intensified into a severe tropical storm over Beibu Wan on July 4 before moving inland to Guangdong.  

On the evening of July 25, the observatory issued the first Gale or Storm Signal No 8 of the year due to Typhoon Noul and the Increasing Gale or Storm Signal No 9 in the small hours of the following day.

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Noul skirted about 80 kilometers to the northeast of the observatory in the morning of July 26, bringing gales, and heavy squally showers and thunderstorms to the city.

More than 70 mm of rainfall were recorded over the territory, and even exceeded 140 mm over the eastern part of the New Territories. At least 21 people were injured during the typhoon, the HKO said.