HONG KONG – September 2024 was much hotter than usual in Hong Kong, mainly due to a weaker-than-normal northeast monsoon over the southern part of the country.

With stronger-than-normal troughing flow in the lower atmosphere over the coast of southern China and the northern part of the South China Sea, the month was also cloudier and wetter than usual, the Hong Kong Observatory said in a statement on Friday.

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The mean temperature of 29.2 degrees, mean maximum temperature of 32.0 degrees and mean minimum temperature of 26.8 degrees were 1.3 degrees, 1.5 degrees and 0.7 degrees above the respective normals, and were respectively the third, one of the fourth and one of the seventh highest for September on record, the HKO data showed.

Eleven tropical cyclones occurred over the South China Sea and the western North Pacific last month.

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The monthly total rainfall was 520.9 millimeters, about 62 percent above the normal figure of 321.4 millimeters. The accumulated rainfall in the first nine months of this year was 2104.3 millimeters, which is about 6 percent lower than the normal figure of 2242.8 millimeters for the same period.

The mean amount of cloud in the month was 74 percent, 8 percent above the normal of 66 percent and one of the ninth highest on record for September, the city's forecaster added.