Hong Kong to finish 2023 with warmest New Year’s Eve on record at 25.7 degrees, as weather forecaster predicts windy start to 2024
- Maximum temperature reaches 25.7 degrees on Sunday, the highest since records began in 1884, according to the Observatory
- Mercury expected to range between 18 and 21 degrees on New Year’s Day before dropping to as low as 15 degrees later in the week on Thursday
Hong Kong will finish 2023 with its warmest New Year’s Eve on record at 25.7 degrees Celsius (78.3 Fahrenheit) on Sunday, while the city’s weather forecaster has told residents to expect a windy couple of days ahead for the start of 2024.
The Observatory said the mercury would range between 18 and 21 degrees on New Year’s Day before dropping to as low as 15 degrees later in the week on Thursday.
“[It is] the highest temperature on New Year’s Eve on record since 1884 [when the data began],” the weather forecaster said, adding that the second warmest was logged in 1977, at 24.9 degrees.
The Observatory’s Tsim Sha Tsui headquarters had logged the record-breaking temperature as of 1pm on Sunday. But the mercury in some areas, including Kowloon City, Sham Shui Po and Wong Tai Sin, rose to as high as 28 degrees.
Temperatures at Tseung Kwan O, Sha Tin and Happy Valley hit 27 degrees, while Stanley, Shau Kei Wan and Tsing Yi reached 24 degrees.
The forecaster expected the weather to be windy in the first couple of days in 2024, with conditions mainly cloudy on New Year’s Day.