Lau Shui Heung Reservoir used to be a scenic hiking spot but is now completely empty
Lau Shui Heung Reservoir in Fanling is all dried up.Hong Kong’s record-breaking heatwave pressed on for a tenth straight day on Saturday, as new Post photos showed a barren reservoir in what was usually a scenic hiking spot.
Hikers who would usually make their way around the picturesque dam at the Lau Shui Heung Reservoir in the New Territories could now walk across the exposed, cracked surface of its dried-up bed and leave behind their footprints.
Water levels could not be recorded for the months of April and May because the reservoir had completely dried up, according to official data from the Water Supplies Department.
By comparison, in May last year, levels were still maintained at 99.24 metres above Principal Datum, the level to which tide heights are referenced in Hong Kong.
Another picture showed a hiker standing at the banks of the Tai Tam Upper Reservoir, formerly covered with water, revealing layers of watermarks on its yellowish outcrop exposed to the air.
At 6.10pm Saturday, a temperature of 34.7 degrees Celsius (94.5 degrees Fahrenheit) was recorded at the Hong Kong Observatory in Tsim Sha Tsui.
In other parts of the city, the mercury soared even higher. Readings hit as high as 35.9 degrees in Peng Chau, west of Hong Kong Island, and Ta Kwu Ling in the northern New Territories registered 35.8 degrees.
The streak of temperatures reaching at least 33 degrees is the longest run of such hot weather in the city for the month of May.
The last time there was such a prolonged stretch of high temperatures in the month was a run of eight consecutive days in 1963. At the time, Hong Kong was in the middle of one of its worst droughts.
The heatwave is expected to continue as the city’s official forecaster predicted the heatwave would persist the next five days.
“Under the dominance of an anticyclone aloft over the northern part of the South China Sea, it will remain very hot over Guangdong [province] in the next few days,” the Observatory said. “A southwesterly airstream will bring a few showers to the coastal areas early next week.”
Temperatures are expected to hover between a scorching 28 to 33 degrees, until more clouds and rainy weather arrive by the end of next week.
Hong Kong is also experiencing a long dry spell, with only 170.7mm of rainfall recorded since January – less than half the normal average of 386.3mm from the start of the year until now.
The Observatory said this year’s rainfall total to date was the city’s second lowest level since it began recording the figure.
The lowest level was tallied in 1963 when only 40.1mm of rainfall were recorded from January to May.
A Water Supplies Department spokeswoman said the city’s current storage levels were within a normal range and that it would continue to import water from the Dongjiang river depending on local needs.
About 80 per cent of rainfall in Hong Kong was recorded from May to September, she added, citing Observatory information. “Therefore, it is still too early to say whether Hong Kong will experience extremely low rainfall this year.”