While spring has brought warmer weather to Hong Kong, temperatures are set to drop later this week as a strong replenishment of the monsoon will affect the southern China coast, with the urban minimum falling to 16 degrees Celsius on Saturday.
According to the Hong Kong Observatory, a northeast monsoon is affecting the Guangdong coast and a band of cloud is covering southern China. Around noon today, temperatures in many parts of the city were 4 to 6 degrees cooler than on Monday.
The urban minimum today is about 16 degrees, while some areas in the New Territories are around 15 degrees. Conditions are expected to be mostly cloudy with occasional light rain at first, and moderate northeast winds.
Looking ahead, the cloud band over southern China will thin in the next few days. Under the influence of the dry northeast monsoon, weather conditions will gradually improve, though mornings will remain cool.
A fresh surge of the monsoon with strong wind force is expected to affect the coast of southern China from Friday to early Saturday. The nine-day forecasts indicate minimum temperatures of about 17 degrees from Wednesday to Friday, with daytime highs near 21 degrees except for Thursday, when temperatures may reach 24 degrees.
Saturday’s range is forecast at 16 to 21 degrees, with east winds force 4 to 5 and occasional force 6 over offshore areas and high ground at first. Temperatures in the New Territories will drop to 13 to 14 degrees, and Ta Kwu Ling may see lows of 12 degrees.
The Observatory added that as the monsoon eases early next week, temperatures in the region will gradually rebound. Monday (Mar 16) is expected to see a low of 18 degrees and a high of 23 degrees, while by Thursday (Mar 19) lows could rise to 20 degrees and highs to 24 degrees, with humidity increasing to as high as 95 percent.
