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Hong Kong will face squally thunderstorms and a nine-degree plunge in temperature later this week as a cold front sweeps across the South China coast, with the mercury expected to dip to 21 degrees Celsius (69.8 Fahrenheit) on Friday, the city’s forecaster has said.
The Observatory said on Tuesday that the city would first experience unseasonably hot weather the next day due to a southerly airstream, with temperatures in urban areas expected to climb to 30 degrees.
However, a trough of low pressure over the northern part of southern China was forecast to “develop into a cold front” on Wednesday, crossing the coastal areas by the next day, the forecaster added.
“Under the influence of the associated northeast monsoon, temperatures over Guangdong will fall in the latter part of this week. Meanwhile, under the influence of upper-air disturbances, the weather will be unsettled with showers and thunderstorms over the region,” it said.
According to the nine-day weather forecast, temperatures in the urban areas will peak at 30 degrees on Wednesday before the cold front triggers a dramatic slide.
By Thursday, the mercury is expected to fall to between 22 and 28 degrees, accompanied by occasional showers and squally thunderstorms.
The forecaster said the cooling trend would intensify on Friday, with the minimum temperature dipping to 21 degrees, marking a total drop of nine degrees from the midweek high, while noting that there was a high chance of rain for both Thursday and Friday.
While unsettled weather with isolated thunderstorms might persist into early Saturday, conditions are expected to improve by Sunday, with sunny periods and temperatures returning to a high of 28 degrees.
“With the upper-air disturbances departing, the weather will improve slightly over the coast of Guangdong early next week,” the Observatory said.