Temperatures set to rise after Hong Kong’s most humid April in 45 years
Muggy conditions predicted to give way to dry 29-degree readings
PUBLISHED : Monday, 25 April, 2016, 6:23pm
UPDATED : Monday, 25 April, 2016, 6:39pm
Ben Westcott
Hold tight, Hong Kong: hot and dryer weather is on the horizon as May brings an end to the humid and wet days that dominated April.
Hong Kong’s warmest temperatures in five months are forecast to arrive next week, as the rain which continued to pelt the city all weekend clears.
According to the Hong Kong Observatory, from next Monday temperatures are to rise to as high as 29 degrees, the hottest weather the city has seen since November.
“The main source of weather in Hong Kong will change to the maritime air stream from early next week, which will cause temperatures to rise on Monday,” scientific officer Stephen Lau said.
Humidity is expected to start to drop too, possibly falling to as low as 75 per cent from the start of May.
But there’s more April gloom to come before then. Apart from a brief break on Friday, rain is expected to continue for the next six days.
Lau said a trough of low pressure would continue to bring showers and thunderstorms to southern China. He expected Tuesday would be mainly cloudy with a few showers and isolated thunderstorms.
For Wednesday, the Observatory has forecast squally thunderstorms could hit Hong Kong along with high humidity throughout the day.
Hong Kong is on track for its most humid April since records began in 1961, with the Observatory currently registering a monthly average of 90 per cent humidity – seven per cent above average.
The weather has also been unusually wet and warm over the past month, with almost 200mm falling across Hong Kong through Sunday and temperatures about half a degree above average.
But Lau said the maritime air stream could keep Hong Kong hot and dry for a while. “When we get to May in general the stream will get more and more time to dominate our weather,” he said.
