Hong Kong braces for cold snap as forecaster predicts winter storm will bring wind, rain and drop in temperature
- Hong Kong Observatory says temperature could drop to 13 degrees Celsius by Sunday
- Wind and rain also expected as winter storm heads to city
Hong Kong will start to get cold later this week as an intense winter storm brings wind, rain and lower temperatures to the city.
The Hong Kong Observatory said on Monday that while it will remain sunny on Tuesday, it will be cloudy with rain in the following days. Temperatures will drop significantly in the latter part of the week.
Temperatures are expected to drop to 19 to 23 degrees Celsius on Thursday, 17 to 21 degrees on Friday; 15 to 18 degrees on Saturday; and 13 to 16 degrees on Sunday.
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Last week, the Observatory said that because of the El Nino effect, the city was expected to have a warmer winter this year with fewer cold days – defined as when temperatures drop below 12 degrees. There were 21 cold days last year.
It added the El Nino would also bring higher chances of rain this winter.
As of the end of November, the mean maximum temperature was 27.1 degrees, the third warmest on record. There have been a total of 36 “very hot” days so far this year, making it the third highest number ever.
An El Nino occurs when warm water accumulated in the western Pacific shifts east with the weakening or reversal of westerly winds, causing the eastern Pacific to warm up. A La Nina effect brings the opposite.
