Big chill on the way ... but sorry Hong Kong, it’s too warm to snow
Video shared widely online purportedly of flakes falling in Hong Kong shot down in flames by Observatory
Biting winds and the coldest weather in decades are forecast for southern China over the coming days, and what appeared to be Hong Kong’s first snow in 40 years caused shivers of excitement yesterday.
The city endured frost, cold weather warnings and strong monsoon wind conditions, prompting the Observatory to declare that such conditions had not been seen since December 1991, when the mercury fell to 5.2 degrees Celsius.
A video shared widely online purportedly of flakes falling in Hong Kong sparked a flurry of interest, but it was shot down in flames by a senior scientific officer at the Observatory, Li Ping-wah, who described the idea of snow falling in Hong Kong as “rather suspicious”.
Conditions in Hong Kong remained above freezing – around 6 to 7 degrees – “so the temperature is too high for it to snow”, according to the Observatory.
Still, it was unclear how far the video was shot from the Observatory’s weather recording stations. And the city’s weather-monitoring body did issue the first frost warning of the year – a sign of the increasingly bitter weather to come.
The last time snow was seen in the city was in December 1975, when Tai Mo Shan was covered in a misty haze as snow lined the trees and ground.