Mercury rising: September on track to be hottest on record in Hong Kong as city swelters through soaring temperatures

Hong Kong has already seen 16 very hot days and nine hot nights this month

Former assistant director of city’s Observatory calls figures ‘frightening’ and attributes it to climate change and effects of Typhoon Chanthu

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A group of friends enjoy the hot weather at Repulse Bay Beach. Photo: Winson Wong

Published: 2:54pm, 26 Sep 2021Updated: 11:34pm, 26 Sep 2021

September in Hong Kong this year is shaping up to be one of the hottest on record, with the city experiencing 16 very hot days before the month has even ended, which is already six more than the previous high 12 years ago.

Leung Wing-mo, the former assistant director of the Hong Kong Observatory, attributed the soaring temperatures to the combined effects of climate change and the powerful Typhoon Chanthu, which moved slowly across the region, sweeping from the Philippines to Japan over the course of two weeks.

“Chanthu moved slowly from Taiwan to Shanghai, and it was very strong,” Leung said. “That’s why its outer subsiding air affected Hong Kong as well.

“Even though it did not bring us much rain, it did bring very hot weather, this is a common phenomenon ahead of tropical storms.”

Leung said the highest temperature ever recorded by the Observatory was 36.6 degrees Celsius (96.8 degrees Fahrenheit), shortly before Super Typhoon Hato hit Hong Kong in 2017.

People exercise near the waterfront in the West Kowloon Cultural District. Photo: Sam Tsang

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