Hongkongers can expect warmer weather before temperatures drop to 12 degrees by midweek, Observatory says
- Maximum temperature expected to reach 21 degrees on Tuesday, according to forecaster
- Mercury is expected to plunge to 12 degrees between Wednesday and Friday, it adds
Hong Kong’s weather is expected to warm up in the coming days before the mercury drops to a low of 12 degrees Celsius (53.6 Fahrenheit) by midweek, the Observatory has said after recording the coldest December temperatures so far this year on Sunday.
The forecaster said a winter monsoon was affecting southern China, but daytime temperatures would rise slightly on Monday and Tuesday.
“A dry replenishment of the monsoon is expected to reach southern China midweek this week,” it said. “The weather will improve and it will be cold in the morning over the region.”
Temperatures on Monday are expected to range between 13 and 18 degrees, with mostly bright yet cloudy weather throughout the day and a few potential rain patches in the early morning.
The forecaster said the weather would continue to heat up on Tuesday, with the maximum temperature expected to reach 21 degrees, before the mercury dropped again between Wednesday and Friday, with expected lows of 12 degrees.
It added that temperatures had dipped to 11.4 degrees shortly after 6am on Sunday morning at its headquarters in Tsim Sha Tsui.
Temperatures in parts of the New Territories and on Lantau Island dropped well into the single digits, with weather stations in Tai Mo Shan and Ngong Ping recording the lowest temperatures of the day, at 3.6 degrees and 4.4 degrees, respectively.
Happy Valley has reported the hottest temperatures so far at 15.2 degrees.
The cooler temperatures across the city were recorded just a day after the Observatory issued its first cold weather warning of the year, but less than a week since the forecaster logged the hottest December day in 70 years, matching the record of 28.7 degrees first set in 1953.
The warning issued on Saturday morning has remained in effect throughout Sunday.
The city recorded its coldest temperature of the year so far on the morning of January 29, when mercury plunged to 9.8 degrees.
The weather forecaster earlier this month said Hong Kong would likely experience fewer “cold days”, where the mercury would drop to 12 degrees or below, this winter, but there could be large temperature fluctuations.
The Observatory said El Nino, a natural climate pattern in the Pacific Ocean that brought warmer sea-surface temperatures, had continued over the past month and was expected to persist in the coming winter and spring.
“Although the average winter temperature in Hong Kong is expected to be normal to above normal, day-to-day fluctuations in weather and temperature can still be quite large with occasional cold weather,” the forecaster said on its website on Friday.
The normal to above-normal temperature range for December to February is 16.8 degrees to 17.7 degrees and above.
