A woman poses for a photograph on a coastal trail in Hong Kong on April 15, 2022.
(DALE DE LA REY / AFP)
HONG KONG – The month of April this year was much drier than usual in Hong Kong with a dry northeast monsoon affecting the city and less moisture supply to the south China coast for most of the time in the month.
April 2022 saw a rainfall of 3.5 millimeters, only about 2 percent of the normal figure of 153.0mm and the lowest on record for April, according to a government press release.
The accumulated rainfall recorded in the first four months of 2022 was 268.8mm, about 11 percent below the normal figure of 300.4mm for the same period, the release added. The monthly mean relative humidity was 73 percent, the lowest on record for April since 1961.
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The month was also warmer than usual with a mean temperature of 23.7 degrees, 0.7 degrees above the normal figure of 23.0 degrees
April 2022 was also much sunnier than usual. The total duration of bright sunshine in the month was 191.1 hours, about 69 percent above the normal figure of 113.2 hours and the fifth highest on record for April.
The month was also warmer than usual with a mean temperature of 23.7 degrees, 0.7 degrees above the normal figure of 23.0 degrees.
A cold front moved across the coast of Guangdong in the morning of April 1 and the temperature recorded at the Hong Kong Observatory dropped to a minimum of 13.7 degrees on April 2. The relative humidity recorded at the HKO once dropped to 22 percent on April 8, the lowest on record in April since the automatic weather station was established at the HKO Headquarters in 1984.
Under the influence of a strong northeast monsoon, the weather turned mainly cloudy and rather windy from April 16 to 17, while it was cloudy with a few showers on April 18 and 19. Local weather gradually became sunnier from April 20 to 21.
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The weather became hot with sunny periods during the day from April 23 to 27. There was coastal fog in the mornings of April 23 to 25 and April 27. The weather was generally fine and hot during the day on April 28 and 29. With plenty of sunshine, the temperature recorded at the HKO rose to a maximum of 32.0 degrees in the afternoon of April 29, the highest of the month.
Two tropical cyclones occurred over the South China Sea and the western North Pacific in April 2022.