Sunny spells for Dragon Boat Festival, day after 2 black rainstorm warnings

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing.Hong Kong enjoyed a few sunny spells on the Tuen Ng Festival, just a day after the city issued its top-tier black rainstorm warning twice only hours apart, as some hiking experts warned outdoor enthusiasts to be mindful of safety hazards.The Hong Kong Observatory said that Friday, the day of this year’s Dragon Boat Festival, would see sunny intervals and hot weather after being mainly cloudy with a few showers and isolated thunderstorms earlier.The hot weather was expected to continue over the weekend, it said.The forecaster added that there would be moderate to fresh southerly winds, with conditions occasionally turning gusty offshore and on high ground under the influence of a subtropical ridge.Despite the end of the heavy downpours, some experts said hikers and nature lovers should beware of safety hazards arising from the recent weather.Umer Abdullah, an event organiser with the Hong Kong Hiking Meetup group, said that outdoor enthusiasts should choose familiar trails with good footing on Saturday, adding they should take breaks at non-slippery spots if it started to rain.He also cautioned hikers to be mindful of the heat on Sunday.“Healthy individuals with appropriate hydration and sun protection can proceed with hiking,” he said.Thursday’s weather also left farmers in the northern New Territories working to salvage their remaining crops or counting their losses. Photo: Facebook/Shun Sum Yuen FarmAbdullah recommended checking the weather forecast before setting out and avoiding unfamiliar trails after rain, warning that streams and waterfalls posed flash flood risks even when rainfall was occurring kilometres away.Further ReadingHikers should wear shoes with good traction and carry hiking sticks on slippery trails and seek cover immediately if they hear thunder nearby, he added.Thursday’s heavy rainfall also left farmers in the northern New Territories working to salvage their remaining crops or counting their losses.“This is the first time I have seen two black rainstorm warnings in a day during the past 15 years of my career in agriculture,” said Flora Wong Wah-fong, owner of Blue Girl Organic Farm.She said the losses at her farm were tangible but manageable, thanks to its mix of elevated and low-lying land – conditions that flat farms in the area lacked.“If your whole farm is on low ground, the damage will have been much worse,” she said.Wong added that farmers in the area had not been caught entirely off guard, with many planting wax gourds and sweet potatoes ahead of the wet season, and training the vines up trellises to keep the crops clear of standing water.Leung Yat-shun, the owner of Shun Sum Yuen Farm in San Tin, shared on Facebook that he was working to salvage a massive sunflower field on Friday that had been submerged the day before.The pictures he shared online showed that many sunflowers had been toppled by the weather, while some remained intact.The Drainage Services Department said on Thursday that 19 locations across the New Territories had been inundated throughout the day, including Fan Kam Road, Lau Fau Shan, Sheung Shui and parts of Yuen Long.