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Hong Kong is going to see a rise in temperature and a rare warm dry weather as it enters May. A relative humidity of 32% was recorded at the headquarters of the Hong Kong Observatory on the afternoon of 7th May while the reading in Tuen Mun district was as low as 15%, making it the second lowest humidity recorded in the month of May in 45 years. The Hong Kong Observatory described this as a very rare case and attributed it to the effect of typhoon Chan Hom which gathered in the South China Sea. As the typhoon carried away clouds from Hong Kong, a bright sunny weather over the territory was resulted. In addition, the coastal area of Guangdong was under the influence of a ridge of high pressure. The humidity was expected to rise gradually by the end of the week.
Hong Kong used to have moist and rainy weather in May every year but this year an abnormally dry weather was experienced early May. The headquarters of the Hong Kong Observatory in TST recorded a very low relative humidity of 32% on 7th May, and the readings in Shatin and Tsing Yi were 17% and 16% respectively. Tuen Mun recorded the lowest humidity of 15% at 10:30 in the morning. Tong Yu-fai, scientific officer of the Hong Kong Observatory, said it was “very rare” to see such dry weather in May.
The lowest relative humidity for the month of May at the headquarters of the Hong Kong Observatory was 28% and it was recorded on 3 May 1965. As Mr. Tong Yu-fai pointed out, the relative humidity recorded on 7th May this year was the second lowest in 45 years． He added that the coast of Guangdong was under the influence of a ridge of high pressure, which brought a descending airstream, so the easterly wind on 7th May was also relatively “dry”. Together, these factors contributed to the recent dry weather in Hong Kong.
The Hong Kong Observatory issued a red fire danger warning early in the morning on 7th May to remind people of the high risk of fire. Mr. Tong Yu-fai, however, stressed that the humidity on the day was not particularly low because Hong Kong had experienced even lower humidity during winter months. He said that the phenomenon was special just because it occurred in May, which was very rare; and in fact earlier at the end of April, red fire danger warnings had also been issued. The low humidity was not related to the El Nino or La Nina effects, he added. ■translated by開明
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