How the coldest days of the year so far are affecting Hong Kong students

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Temperatures in some parts of Hong Kong fell to minus 1 degree Celsius, with cool spell expected to continue for seven days

Rhea Mogul |
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Students bundle up as temperatures are set to remain cold for another week.

January has been a cold month in Hong Kong, with the temperature dropping to minus 1 degree Celsius on Wednesday night, the lowest so far this year.

This is expected to continue for another seven days. The Hong Kong Observatory forecasts the daily minimum temperature to remain between 7 to 12 degrees until next Friday, with next Monday being the coldest day in the coming week. Hong Kong students are definitely feeling this.

“The cold weather certainly makes it hard for me to wake up at the break of dawn every morning,” Ally Chan, a form five student from Baptist Lui Ming Choi Secondary School, told Young Post. “My fingers are numb from the cold, making typing increasingly difficult.”

Meanwhile, Angelina Wang, a year 12 student from Chinese International School, says she has been battling a terrible cold all day. "I like drinking hot beverages to keep warm," she added. 

A cold weather warning has been in force since Sunday, making this the January with the highest number of cold days since 2012. There were 14 cold days for the month in 2012, including a seven-day stretch from January 8 to 14.

The 9-day forecast from the Hong Kong Observatory.
Image: Hong Kong Observatory

At 11pm on Wednesday, the Observatory reported an air temperature of 7.9 degrees at its headquarters in Tsim Sha Tsui. The Tai Mo Shan monitoring station, located 955 metres above sea level and the highest point in the city, recorded minus 1 degree at about 11.20pm. It was the lowest reading in Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong Observatory explained an intense winter monsoon had continued to bring cold weather to the coast of Guangdong province, and a broad band of rain and clouds was covering southern China.

It predicted that in the next few days, the weather would become fine and dry, with a relatively large temperature difference between day and night. The extended outlook forecasts a warmer festive period, with the minimum and maximum daily temperatures rising to a range between 15 and 20 degrees on February 14, Valentine’s Day, and one day before the eve of the Lunar New Year.

Bundle up and stay warm, everyone!

Edited by Heidi Yeung

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