Cold, wet March keeps Hong Kong gloomy, as warm weather hits town

Wet days and cold nights kept Hong Kong gloomy in March – and the city’s meteorologists say there could be more on the way.

Temperatures were almost two degrees lower than average, the city’s equal coldest start to spring in more than a decade, with double the normal rainfall for the year.

Events such as Taste of Hong Kong had to contend with plunging temperatures and rain as dehumidifiers were switched on across the city to deal with above average humidity.

“The cold, humid weather will continue, and the situation will last for a couple of a days at least into April,” Hong Kong Observatory chief experimental officer Li Kin-wai said.

As of March 31, the mean temperature for the month was 17.4 degrees, almost two degrees below the usual monthly average of 19.1 degrees.

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Similarly the absolute minimum daily temperature was also 1.7 degree below average, sometimes falling as low as 10 degrees early in the month.

So far, it has been Hong Kong’s coldest March since 2005, when the average temperature for the month was also 17.4 degrees.

Li said the cold, muggy weather had been due to a strong weather pattern which had settled for most of March off the coast of China.

“[It was] due to the competing for dominance between the north-east monsoon and humid maritime air stream over the South China Coast - that’s the cause of the gloomy and humid weather,” he said.

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The city was drenched in almost double the normal amount of rainfall in March 2016, as 148.7mm fell on Hong Kong up until the 31st.

March makes Hong Kong’s third month in a row to be colder than average, with temperatures dropping even lower on average than in February when locals shivered through 9.4 degree days.

Li said while March’s unfriendly weather had been due to competing air streams, February’s was instead the result of a stronger than normal north-east monsoon.

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High humidity and warm temperatures will mark Hong Kong’s first weeks of April, as the Hong Kong Observatory forecasts highs of about 25 degrees with rain early next week.