Maritime airstreams around Hong Kong make for warmer, drier March
The city enjoyed a warmer and drier March than usual, mainly due to the dominance of maritime airstreams during the latter half of the month.
The city enjoyed a warmer and drier March than usual, mainly due to the dominance of maritime airstreams during the latter half of the month, statistics from the Hong Kong Observatory showed on Thursday.
The monthly mean temperature recorded was 19.9 degrees Celsius, 0.8 degrees higher than the normal, which is an average of figures taken from 1981 to 2010.
The Observatory also said the total rainfall for March was just 28.4 millimetres – about 35 per cent of the expected figure of 82.2 millimetres.
The 102.1 millimetres of accumulated rainfall that fell since January 1 was also about 37 per cent below the expected figure of 161.3 millimetres for the same period.
The month started under the influence of a cold front over southern China that moved across the coastal areas of Guangdong on March 1.
The mercury dropped further on March 4 and 5 when another replenishment of the northeast monsoon brought windy and cooler conditions.