Hong Kong sweats through warmest November since 1884 – and they’ll get warmer
Climate change and an unusually light monsoon activity saw temperatures for November reaching more than two degrees above average
Hong Kong has sweltered through its hottest November since records began in 1884, almost a degree higher than 2006 – the previous highest on record.
A combination of climate change and unusually light monsoon activity led to average temperatures of 24 degrees for November, more than two degrees above average.
While cooler temperatures have eased over Hong Kong in the past week, courtesy of a monsoonal front moving over China, it couldn’t offset a heatwave earlier in the month.
A spokesman for the Hong Kong Observatory said it was well above the previous highest November on record, in 2006, which had a mean temperature of 23.3 degrees.
“The main causes for the significantly warmer than normal weather [are] higher sea surface temperatures over the northern part of the South China Sea and relatively weak advection of cold air from the north despite the prevailing northeast monsoon,” he said.
The spokesman said global warming and local urbanisation had also contributed, as mean autumn temperatures in Hong Kong continue to rise annually.
