Hong Kong reports its highest March temperature in 140 years

HONG KONG – Hong Kong’s temperature on March 24 reached the highest recorded level during the month of March in 140 years, according to the city’s observatory.

The maximum temperature measured at the observatory was 31.5 deg C – the highest reported during the month of March since records began in 1884.

It surged to above 32 deg C in the northern areas of the territory close to the mainland Chinese city of Shenzhen.

On March 21, the observatory warned that Hong Kong is expected to see above-normal mean temperatures in 2024, “with a high chance of reaching the warmest top 10 on record”.

Climate change has caused searing heat and increasing frequency and intensity of

extreme weather events across the world.

Hong Kong

experienced its hottest summer on record in 2023,

measured by the average temperature of 29.7 deg C between June and August, the observatory said in a January report. All 12 months of 2023 were warmer than usual.

The city reported

a quarter of the normal annual total rainfall in the 24 hours ending 4pm on Sept 7

– during a period with a “black rainstorm”, or very heavy rain, warning – just shy of the record amount in May 1889.

The rainstorm and

Typhoon Saola

resulted in combined gross insurance claims of HK$1.9 billion (S$328 million), according to a Dec 4 statement from the city’s Insurance Authority. BLOOMBERG