bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Julia Hollingsworth

The first month of this year was the warmest January in Hong Kong since records began in 1885, according to the Observatory.
Locals experienced a record-breaking average temperature of 18.5 degrees Celsius – 2.2 degrees warmer than the normal monthly average of 16.3 degrees, the Observatory said on Thursday.
Li Kin-wai, chief experimental officer at the Observatory, said it was the hottest January since records began.
Guangdong cities empty during Lunar New Year as Chinese migrant workers head home for the holiday
The unseasonably hot weather was down to no substantial cold surge affecting the Guangdong coast, he said.
The second-warmest January was in 1901, when temperatures averaged 18.3 degrees – much warmer than last year’s 16 degrees.


Last month’s average daily minimum temperature was also warmer than usual, at 17 degrees, 2.5 degrees higher than the average daily low in January.
And the month was drier than usual, with only 7.8mm of total rainfall, less than a third of the normal 24.7mm.
The record-breaking January follows a relatively toasty December, which was the third-warmest in more than 130 years.
The weather’s to blame for your aches and pains – or is it?
The hottest day of the month was January 6, when sunny skies saw temperatures hit 25.5 degrees.
January also saw more sunlight than usual, with 145.1 bright sunshine hours, 2.1 hours more than the average for January.
Northerly winds brought the city dry and cool weather towards the end of the month, bringing the temperature down to 13.6 degrees on January 22, the month’s coldest day.
There was only one tropical cyclone over the South China Sea and the western North Pacific last month.


Tremors felt in Hong Kong as earthquake strikes Taiwan

Hong Kong temperatures set to drop to 14 degrees Celsius next week as intense monsoon nears

Cool, wet for Hongkongers on Thursday but temperature set to rise in coming days

Storm Man-yi: Hong Kong to cancel T1 typhoon signal at 10.10pm but wet weather to persist

Hong Kong weather

Hong Kong just had its warmest January on record

Average temperature of 18.5 degrees highest since records began, back in 1885

Flowers in bloom in Tsim Sha Tsui, after the city’s hottest January since records began. Photo: Sam Tsang

News

Hong Kong

Health & Environment

Average temperature of 18.5 degrees highest since records began, back in 1885
