Super Hot: Past July hottest month on record in Hong Kong

Last month was the hottest on record in Hong Kong, according to the city’s meteorological agency. 

The Hong Kong Observatory said in a Facebook post on Monday that this was caused by a stronger than normal sub-tropical ridge persisting over southern China the past July.

The observatory noted that July’s weather broke or equaled 11 of the city’s records:

• Highest monthly mean temperature at 30.3 degrees Celsius, breaking the record in 2020
• Highest monthly mean maximum temperature at 33.3 degrees Celsius, equaling the 2020 record
• Highest monthly mean minimum temperature at 28.4 degrees Celsius, breaking the record in 2020
• Most days with the very hot weather warning issued at 21 days
• A total of 10 days with a maximum temperature of 35 degrees Celsius or higher recorded, breaking the annual record in a single month
• A total of 16 days with a maximum temperature of 34 degrees Celsius or higher recorded, the highest in a single month
• A total of 25 hot nights, the most in a single month
• The longest period of consecutive hot nights at 21 days
• The maximum temperature on July 24 was 36.1 degrees Celsius, the highest maximum temperature ever recorded in July
• The minimum temperature on July 25 was 29.9 degrees Celsius, the highest minimum temperature ever recorded in July
• The mean temperature on July 24 and 25 both reached 32.0 degrees Celsius, the highest on record for July

On a brighter (by which we mean cooler) note, the observatory said on its website that lower temperatures are forecast for the coming week, with an upper-air disturbance expected “to bring heavy showers and thunderstorms to southern China in the middle and latter parts of this week”.