Extreme Hong Kong weather and how it compares to the rest of the world
With memories still fresh of May’s record heatwave in the city, we look back at some of the hottest, coldest, wettest and windiest moments in Hong Kong’s history and contrast them with global extremes
Last year was one of the hottest years on record, with eight temperature records broken, including the highest temperature (36.6 degrees Celsius) ever recorded at the Hong Kong Observatory. Five typhoon 8 warnings were issued as nine tropical cyclones came within 500km of the city.
This May also saw a record heatwave for the month. Is Hong Kong’s weather getting more extreme? We look back at some of the hottest, coldest, wettest and windiest moments in the city’s history and compare them to global extremes.
Hong Kong is classified as having a humid subtropical climate. Its meteorological records date back to 1884, with a break from 1939 to 1947 for the second world war.
Winters are mild and lower in humidity. Early winter is usually sunny, becoming more cloudy in February. Cold fronts from the north and northeast bring strong winds. Snow is extremely rare and has only been seen at the highest elevations. Snow was recorded on four days: twice in February and December 1967, in January 1971 and December 1975. On the coldest days frost can be seen at high elevations.
Spring can be changeable in Hong Kong, with dry sunny days and humid cloudy days.
Summers are hot and humid with sometimes heavy rain and thunderstorms coming mostly from the southwest.
