Mainly attributing to the stronger than usual subtropical ridge over southern China, May 2021 was the hottest May in Hong Kong on record since 1884, according to the Hong Kong Observatory.
The monthly mean temperature of 29.0 degrees and monthly mean minimum temperature of 27.0 degrees were 2.7 degrees and 2.5 degrees above their corresponding normals and both were the highest on record for May.
The mean maximum temperature of 32.1 degrees was 3.3 degrees above normal and the second highest on record for May.
The observatory said together with the exceptionally warm weather in March and April this year, Hong Kong experienced the warmest spring on record from March to May 2021.
The mean temperature of 25.0 degrees, mean minimum temperature of 23.2 degrees and mean maximum temperature of 28.0 degrees for March to May 2021 were all the highest on record for the same period.
Meanwhile, there were in total 14 hot nights in the month including 6 consecutive hot nights that started from 16 May, both breaking the records for May.
The month was also much drier than usual with a total rainfall of only 65.0 millimeters, about 22 percent of the normal figure of 290.6 millimeters. The accumulated rainfall recorded in the first five months of the year was 163.1 millimeters, a deficit of 72 percent when compared to the normal of 590.9 millimeters and the second lowest on record for the same period.