Observatory says August was far hotter than normal
SingTao · 5 SOURCESabout 1 hour ago2 MIN
Summary
The Hong Kong Observatory said on Wednesday that August 2026 was much hotter than normal after a month marked by prolonged very hot weather and multiple temperature records. The forecaster attributed the heat to warmer-than-normal sea surface temperatures over the northern South China Sea, southwesterly flow over the coast of southern China, and subsiding air on the periphery of Tropical Cyclone Dolphin.
Key Points
- The monthly mean temperature was 29.5 degrees Celsius, 0.8 degrees above normal and among the third-highest August readings on record.
- Mean minimum and mean maximum temperatures reached 27.6 and 32.1 degrees, 0.9 and 0.8 degrees above normal respectively.
- Hong Kong recorded nine consecutive very hot days from August 5 to 13, with three consecutive extremely hot days from August 9 to 11.
- The Observatory hit a record 36.9 degrees on August 9, while Sheung Shui reached 39.8 degrees, the city’s highest automatic-station reading since the 1980s.
- August rainfall totaled 380.0 millimetres, about 16% below normal, but cumulative rainfall in the first eight months reached 2,357.6 millimetres, about 23% above normal.
Why It Matters
The figures point to a hotter urban summer with little overnight relief, after the Observatory also recorded a highest-ever daily minimum temperature of 30.2 degrees on the morning of August 12. Looking ahead, the Observatory expects temperatures in September to be normal to above normal with a slightly higher chance of normal to below-normal rainfall, while HK01 reported the forecaster expects El Niño to develop by late summer and last at least until next spring