July 2020 was Hong Kong’s hottest month since records began in 1884

If you feel like it’s been abnormally hot the past couple of weeks, you’re right.

July 2020 was the warmest month in Hong Kong in 136 years, seeing a monthly mean maximum temperature of 33.3 degrees.

“With a stronger than usual subtropical ridge persisting over southern China for most of the time in the month, July 2020 became the hottest month in Hong Kong since records began in 1884,” the observatory wrote Tuesday.

[HKO's News]:The Weather of July 2020 – The hottest month in Hong Konghttps://t.co/VXnec9OYZX pic.twitter.com/3hMIswexJI

— Observatory HKO (@ObservatoryHK) August 4, 2020

“The unrelenting heat also necessitated the Very Hot Weather Warning to remain in force for 467 hours from 11 to 30 July, setting the longest record since the introduction of the warning in 2000,” the statement added.

Those aren’t the only records it broke. July 2020 also set all-time highs for the number of “very hot days” and “hot nights” in a month, with 20 and 21 respectively. (The observatory’s standard for a “very hot day” is a daily maximum temperature of 33 degrees, and a “hot night” is a minimum temperature of 28 degrees.)

The temperature reached 35.3 degrees on July 23, the hottest during the month.

With protracted sunny spells, the past month was also much drier than usual. July’s total monthly rainfall was only about a third of the normal figure, the observatory added.

Read more: PHOTO: Waterspout spotted near Hong Kong airport as observatory issues third day of rainstorm warning

Those days were unfortunately numbered—heavy rains fell on the city Saturday and Sunday as the observatory hoisted the typhoon signal no. 3.

Typhoon Hagupit, which made landfall in China’s eastern coastal areas yesterday, will skirt Hong Kong, but rain and isolated thunderstorms are expected to persist over the next week.