Hong Kong braces for record-high rainfall this week, with rough weather setting in on Tuesday afternoon
- Regional weather authorities convene meeting to discuss heavy precipitation and warning systems
- Macau education authorities announce all schools except tertiary institutions will suspend classes on Wednesday due to expected bad weather.
Hong Kong residents should brace for squally thunderstorms lasting for days throughout the rest of the week, the weather forecaster has warned, after meteorological authorities in mainland China said expected rainfall in the region could shatter records.
The precipitation was tied to a low-pressure trough spanning thousands of kilometres that had formed over the northern area of south China on Tuesday, the Hong Kong Observatory said, adding the weather pattern was gradually moving southwards.
“The weather of Hong Kong will become unsettled, and with showers and squally thunderstorms from Wednesday to Sunday,” senior scientific officer Lee Tsz-cheung said. “The development of the heavy rain associated with the trough of low pressure could be rather random. These factors will add uncertainty to the occurrence time and location of the heavy rain.”
The alert came after the China Meteorological Administration last week warned that south China and regions south of the Yangtze River would be hit by the most significant amount of rainfall since the flooding season began in mid-March.
Daily rainfall readings at individual weather stations in Guangdong and Guangxi provinces could reach historic highs, or 500mm, the national forecaster warned, with heavy showers expected to affect the region most severely from Tuesday to Thursday.
On Monday, officials at the National Satellite Meteorological Centre met their counterparts in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau to discuss the situation.
From Tuesday to Friday, the Greater Bay Area is expected to experience continuous rainstorms and record between 150 and 200mm of accumulated rainfall, according to the China Meteorological Administration.