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It’s official: Hong Kong sweltered through record-breaking summer

Temperature hit high of 36.6 degrees Celsius on August 22; rainfall was 13 per cent more than average for time of year

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Someone hecking the wind speed at Victoria Harbour in Tsim Sha Tsui as Typhoon Pakhar nears Hong Kong. Photo: Felix Wong

If you felt like it was abnormally hot and wet in Hong Kong last month, you were right: the city sweltered through its hottest day on record and experienced 13 per cent more rain than usual thanks in part to two typhoons, according to the local forecaster.

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The Hong Kong Observatory recorded the hottest temperature at its Tsim Sha Tsui headquarters since records began in 1880, with the mercury tipping 36.6 degrees Celsius on August 22.

The mean daily temperature was 29.3 degrees – 0.7 degrees above average – making it the seventh warmest August on record, according to the Observatory.

The two tropical cyclones Hato and Pakhar, which struck towards the end of the month and prompted typhoon warnings, were partly to blame for the atypically hot and wet weather, Observatory scientific officer Chan Yan-chun said.
Typhoon Hato hit the region at the end of last month. Photo: Sam Tsang
Typhoon Hato hit the region at the end of last month. Photo: Sam Tsang
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The hot weather was caused by subsidence – or downward air pressure – just before typhoons Hato and Pakhar hit the city, Chan said.

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