What a scorcher: 2015 officially Hong Kong’s hottest year on record
Global warming and higher sea surface temperatures contributed to the extraordinary year, senior Observatory official says
It’s official: 2015 was Hong Kong’s hottest year on record, as a sweltering summer pushed temperatures almost a degree above average.
Overall the mean temperature for 2015 was 24.2 degrees – 0.9 degrees above the average and the highest since records began in 1850.
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Every single month in the past year was warmer than normal, with November in particular coming in more than two degrees above the monthly average.
In addition, rainfall was also far below normal in the past year, while Hong Kong broke the record for the most hot nights in one year. A ‘hot night’ refers to a daily minimum temperature equal to or higher than 28.0 degrees.
Observatory chief experimental officer Li Kin-wai said of the extraordinary year: “It was due to the stronger than normal subtropical ridge and the higher than normal sea surface temperatures over the northern part of the South China Sea during summer and autumn.
