HK to face sharp 8 to 14 degree drop next weekend as first cold front of Dec arrives

After an unusually warm start to December, the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) forecasts that a strong cold front will sweep across southern China next weekend, sending temperatures plunging from daytime highs of around 25 degrees on Friday to morning lows as cold as 11 degrees in parts of the New Territories by Sunday.

The chilly air is expected to reach Hong Kong on Saturday (Dec 13), bringing a brisk northerly wind and scattered light rain.

City-wide temperatures will fall sharply through the day, with the mercury dropping from an expected high of 22 degrees to a low of just 16 degrees overnight—an 8-degree tumble in less than 24 hours.

Conditions turn even cooler on Sunday (Dec 14), when the minimum dips to around 15 degrees and the daytime high struggles to reach 19 degrees.

Rural areas will feel the cold most intensely. While central Hong Kong is still enjoying 24–25 degrees on Friday, places such as Shek Kong and Ta Kwu Ling are forecast to wake up to only 11 degrees on Sunday morning—a 14-degree swing over two days. Most of the New Territories are likely to see early-morning readings of 13–14 degrees that day.

In the coming days, the weather remains dry and pleasantly warm under the influence of the northeast monsoon.

Tuesday and Wednesday will be occasionally cloudy with one or two light showers and temperatures between 19 and 23 degrees.

By Thursday and Friday, the warmth briefly returns with both minimum and maximum readings back in the low to mid-20s before the cold front arrives.

A tropical cyclone currently east of the Philippines is expected to cross the central and southern parts of the country in the next day or two, then weaken over the South China Sea, posing no direct threat to Hong Kong.

However, an extensive cloud band is forecast to spread over the Guangdong coast by mid-to-late next week, keeping skies mostly overcast as the colder air moves in.