Hong Kong’s weather set to cool after record hot October
Health chief appeals for vigilance over flu as temperatures set to dip below 20 degrees
After the hottest October since records began 132 years ago, cooler weather is finally on the horizon for Hong Kong with a cold front set to bring the mercury down to below 20 degrees Celsius in the mid to latter part of this week.
The Observatory said an associated northeast monsoon would bring “appreciably cooler weather” to coastal areas from Wednesday, before temperatures once again climb back into the low to mid 20s over the weekend.
Average minimum temperatures are expected to drop to about 18 degrees and average maximums to about 21 degrees on Thursday, accompanied by mainly cloudy weather and a few patches of rain. An easterly airstream is already affecting the coast of Guangdong.
The slight cooling in the second week of November comes after last month broke records for the highest average maximum and minimum temperatures for October. The monthly mean temperature clocked in at 26.8 degrees, while average rainfall was the second highest for an October since records began in 1884.
The minimum temperatures recorded between November 7 and 15 at the Observatory from 1981 to 2010 have averaged between 20.1 and 21.5 degrees.
With the seesawing in weather patterns, the city’s health chief yesterday reminded residents to prepare for a rise in flu infections and to get their flu jabs early. The winter flu season’s peak is expected to arrive sometime between now and January.
The government’s vaccination programme and subsidised vaccination scheme was launched on October 20 and last Thursday respectively.
“I would make a further appeal for the elderly and children to also be vaccinated for pneumococcus,” said Secretary for Food and Health Dr Ko Wing-man at a press conference by the Lung Foundation and Thoracic Society on respiratory tract-related diseases on Sunday.
“The hope is that the peak severity of the winter flu season won’t be so severe.”
The weather today is expected to be sunny with temperatures between 23 and 28 degrees.
