An unseasonably warm and sunny March
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Under the influence of a mild and humid maritime airstream over the coast of Guangdong, the weather in Hong Kong was warm and foggy with sunny periods in early March. The weather then turned cloudy and foggy on March 3 and 4, with the visibility in the harbour falling below 1 000 metres. There were also a few showers and isolated thunderstorms on the morning of March 4. After another foggy morning on March 5, the weather turned fine and rather warm during the day.
A cold front moved across the coastal areas of Guangdong on the night of March 5. The lingering fog patches were cleared away under the influence of a strong easterly airstream, and the weather in Hong Kong turned cloudy and appreciably cooler with light rain patches over the next two days. Rain associated with the passage of another cold front on the morning of March 8 made up most of the rainfall for the month, and under strengthening northerly winds temperatures in Hong Kong decreased significantly during the day. The Hong Kong Observatory recorded a minimum temperature of 11.1 degrees on the morning of March 9, the lowest of the month. The cold continental air mass also brought sunny and dry weather during the day.
Fine weather with abundant sunshine persisted till March 13 with winds turning easterly, and temperature gradually increased. Under the influence of a humid maritime airstream over the coastal areas of Guangdong, the weather became cloudy with light rain patches on March 14. It turned fine and warm over the next two days, despite some morning fog on March 16.
A fresh to strong easterly airstream brought slightly cooler weather and light rain patches to the territory on March 17. With the easterly winds moderating over the next two days, the weather in Hong Kong became warm with some mist patches on March 19. The passage of a cold front associated with the northeast monsoon on the morning of March 20 brought cooler and dry weather to the coastal areas of Guangdong. Sunny weather prevailed in Hong Kong over the next three days, with daytime relative humidity falling below 40 per cent on March 21.
As the winds gradually turned easterly, a moister maritime airstream brought cloudier skies to Hong Kong on March 24. A weak northeast monsoon prevailed over the coast of Guangdong over the next few days, which was then replaced by a replenishment of easterly winds towards the end of the month. The weather remained generally fine and warm in Hong Kong during the period. With abundant sunshine, the temperature at the Hong Kong Observatory climbed to the month's highest of 27.9 degrees on March 30.
One tropical cyclone occurred over the South China Sea and the western North Pacific in March 2018.
Details of the issuance and cancellation of various warnings/signals in March are summarised in Table 1. Monthly meteorological figures and departures from normal for March are tabulated in Table 2.
Ends/Wednesday, April 4, 2018
Issued at HKT 17:16
Issued at HKT 17:16
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