Hong Kong went through its hottest summer on record in 2023, with a record-high mean temperature of 29.7 degrees Celsius from June-August. The city also had 15 “hot” nights — when temperatures were 28 degrees Celsius — and 40% less rain than usual in August.
According to figures released by the Hong Kong Observatory, the average temperature recorded over the summer was 1.1 degree Celsius above normal — and one of the second-highest on record for August. Despite rain in the middle of the month lowering temperatures to a minimum of 25.7 degrees Celsius on August 11, it was still the “highest monthly absolute minimum temperature on record for August.”
The observatory attributed the soaring temperatures to “the warmer than normal sea surface temperature over the northern part of the South China Sea and a stronger than usual south-westerly flow in the lower atmosphere over the south China coast.”
Earlier this year, the meteorological body introduced the Very Hot Weather Warning alert for when temperatures in the city reach 35 degrees Celsius or above. On August 3, the maximum temperature at the Observatory went up to 35.1 degrees Celsius — the highest of the month.
Despite August being a warmer than usual month in Hong Kong, it was not the hottest on record. Last year, the Hong Kong Observatory announced that July 2022 was the hottest month in Hong Kong ever since records started being kept in 1884, with 11 of the city’s weather records were broken or equalled.
Header image credits: Leung Cho Pan via Canva
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