Hong Kong officially recorded its highest temperature in 142 years on Sunday, as Typhoon Dolphin pushed warm air across the city. The Hong Kong Observatory reported a peak of 36.9C, surpassing the previous record of 36.6C set on August 22, 2017, just before Typhoon Hato arrived.
While the observatory’s headquarters serves as the official benchmark for the city, other areas experienced even more extreme conditions. A weather station in the northern district of Sheung Shui logged 39.8C, marking the highest temperature recorded there since the introduction of automatic weather stations in the 1980s.
The city’s forecasters issued a “very hot weather warning” on Sunday, urging residents to stay hydrated and avoid strenuous outdoor activity. Officials noted that as the storm moves toward Zhejiang and further inland, its subsiding air will likely maintain extremely hot conditions in the territory through Tuesday.
Typhoon Dolphin made landfall near Yuhuan in China’s Zhejiang province at approximately 5:30pm local time (0930 GMT) on Sunday. Located about 1,000km (620 miles) northeast of Hong Kong, the storm brought maximum sustained winds of 94mph (151 km/h), a strength equivalent to a category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
The storm’s approach caused significant disruption along the Chinese coast, including mass evacuations and flight cancellations. Scientists continue to observe that human-driven climate change is contributing to the increased frequency and intensity of extreme heat events globally. The report also notes that the highest recorded since records began in 1884, the Hong Kong Observatory said in the afternoon, the city’s weather observatory posted a temperature of 36.9C on Sunday. The report also notes that but temperatures elsewhere in the densely built Chinese finance hub topped 39C, figures recorded at the observatory’s headquarters are the official reference point for the city’s records. The report also notes that with storm driving intense heat in region, observatory says 36.9C posted on Sunday is city’s highest official temperature since its records began 142 years ago.
