The Hong Kong Observatory has predicted that the coming three months will be hotter and drier than normal due to climate warming, which led to a “significant long-term increase” in the city’s temperatures. This will result in “normal to above-normal temperatures” and “normal to below-normal rainfall” in Hong Kong from January to March 2025.
This comes after a report issued by the city’s meteorological body stating that the city experienced a much drier than usual December last year, logging 18.5 degrees Celsius as the monthly mean temperature — 0.3 degrees higher than expected in the month. There was hardly any rain during this period and there were 199.5 hours of sunshine — almost 38 hours more than usual for this period.
The Hong Kong Observatory also logged the warmest-ever autumn in 2024, with the mean temperature (26.5 degrees Celsius) and mean minimum temperature (24.5 degrees Celsius) being the highest on record for September to November last year. According to the United Nations, 2024 is on track to be the hottest year on record, which will likely be confirmed when the World Meteorological Organization publishes its consolidated global temperature figure for 2024 later this month.
Image credits: Hong Kong Street View via Flickr
