September 5, 2023
HONG KONG – Hong Kong experienced its hottest summer on record from June to August 2023, according to the Hong Kong Observatory.
In a statement issued on Monday, the HKO said the last three months saw the city enduring a record-breaking high mean temperature of 29.7 degrees Celsius.
Last month was also the territory’s hottest August since records began with a monthly mean temperature of 29.7 C and a monthly mean minimum temperature of 27.8 C, respectively 1.0 degree and 1.1 degrees above their normal levels, and both the highest for August.
“Together with the exceptionally hot weather in June and July, Hong Kong experienced the hottest summer on record from June to August 2023,” the HKO said.
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The mean maximum temperature of 32.4 C and mean minimum temperature of 27.6 C were both the second highest on record for the three-month period.
There were 15 hot nights in August 2023, one of the highest on record for August, and the month was also much drier than usual with a total rainfall of 140.7 millimeters, about 31 percent of the normal figure of 453.2 millimeters, the HKO said.
The accumulated rainfall up to August this year was 1,157.2 millimeters, a deficit of about 40 percent compared with the normal level of 1,921.5 millimeters for the same period, it added.
Under the influence of the outer subsiding air of tropical cyclone Khanun, it was mainly fine and extremely hot on the afternoon of Aug 3, with the maximum temperature at the Observatory soaring to 35.1 C, the highest for the month.
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Rainfall brought by a trough of low pressure drenched the territory on Aug 11, with temperatures dropping to a minimum of 25.7 C, the lowest of the month but the highest monthly absolute minimum temperature on record for August, the HKO said.
Seven tropical cyclones occurred over the South China Sea and the western North Pacific in August, including super typhoon Saola, which approached the city on Aug 31 before skirting south of Hong Kong the following day.