A winter chill lingered over Hong Kong on Thursday (Jan 8) morning, with temperatures dropping to 12°C across the city and to as low as 5.9°C in some northern districts under clear skies and significant radiative cooling.
The Hong Kong Observatory recorded minimum temperatures of 10°C or below in many districts. Ta Kwu Ling bore the brunt of the cold snap, hitting a low of 5.9°C, while Sheung Shui saw the mercury fall to 9.1°C.
While the cold weather and red fire danger alerts remained in force, the weather forecaster cancelled the frost warning at 7.45am.
Despite sub-six-degree temperatures in the north, no significant icing was reported on farmland in areas such as Tai Mo Shan and Sheung Shui.
“Under the persistent influence of a dry winter monsoon, the weather will be generally fine with cold mornings over Guangdong (on Thursday and Friday). With the monsoon moderating slightly over the weekend, temperatures will rise slightly over southern China, but it will still be cool in the morning,” the Observatory said.
The cold snap is expected to persist through Friday morning with temperatures holding at 12°C in urban areas.
But the forecaster said that the morning chill would ease to 14°C on Saturday, with the mercury expected to climb to a daytime high of 21°C as the winter monsoon weakens.
The warming trend is forecast to continue into early next week, with minimum temperatures expected to rise to 15°C or 16°C by Sunday and Monday.
Despite the gradual rebound, the Observatory added that the air would remain “very dry during the day” through Saturday, with relative humidity dropping to as low as 35 per cent, keeping the fire risk extreme.
This article was first published on SCMP.
Source: CNA
