An unseasonably warm and rainy March
************************************
Under the influence of a southerly airstream and a band of clouds, Hong Kong's weather was mainly cloudy with one or two rain patches and coastal fog on the first two days of the month. Moreover, a cold front moved across the coast of Guangdong on the night of March 2, bringing showers and isolated squally thunderstorms to Hong Kong, with about 30 millimetres of rainfall recorded over parts of the territory. The associated northeast monsoon brought cooler mornings on the following three days. Temperature at the Observatory fell to a minimum of 15.4 degrees on the morning of March 4, the lowest of the month. Meanwhile, upper-air disturbances also brought showers to the territory from March 3 to 4. Showers were heavier at times with more than 100 millimetres of rainfall recorded over Kowloon, Tseung Kwan O and parts of Lantau Island on these two days. There were also isolated thunderstorms on March 3. With the band of clouds thinning out, apart from one or two rain patches in the morning, there were sunny periods on March 5.
A relatively dry easterly airstream brought generally fine weather to Hong Kong from March 6 to 9. It was also dry during the day from March 6 to 8. Under the influence of the northeast monsoon and a band of clouds, it was mainly cloudy from March 10 to 11. It was also cool with one or two rain patches on the morning of March 10. With the thinning out of the cloud band on the afternoon of March 11 and a replenishment of the dry northeast monsoon on the night of March 12, the local weather turned fine from March 12 to 16. As the northeast monsoon moderated gradually and a band of clouds covered the coast of Guangdong, the local weather became mainly cloudy with one or two light rain patches on March 17. As the cloud band thinned out, it was generally fine on the following two days. It was also hot on the afternoon of March 19.
With the setting in of a fresh to strong easterly airstream and a band of clouds, Hong Kong's weather turned cloudy with a few light rain patches from March 20 to 21. With the moderation of the easterly airstream and the thinning out of the cloud band, local weather became generally fine and warm during the day from March 22 to 23. Winds were weak on the next two days, with coastal mist in the morning and at night. It remained warm during the day with sunny periods on March 24. Under light wind conditions, it was hot on the afternoon of March 25 with temperatures at the Observatory rising to a maximum of 30.0 degrees, the highest of the month. With the setting in of a relatively humid easterly airstream, the local weather turned mainly cloudy with a hot afternoon and coastal mist the next day. While there were mist patches on the morning of March 27, a trough of low pressure brought showers and thunderstorms to the territory that afternoon. With the return of a relatively humid easterly airstream, Hong Kong's weather was mainly cloudy with a few showers and relatively low visibility the next day. Under the influence of a southerly airstream, it remained mainly cloudy with one or two rain patches on March 29. An area of intense thundery showers associated with upper-air disturbances affected the vicinity of the Pearl River Estuary, bringing showers and severe squally thunderstorms to the territory during the day on March 30. Violent gusts over 120 kilometres per hour were recorded at Lau Fau Shan. Under the influence of a trough of low pressure, local weather on the last day of the month remained mainly cloudy with one or two showers and isolated thunderstorms at night.
One tropical cyclone occurred over the South China Sea and the western North Pacific in March 2026.
Details of issuance and cancellation of various warnings/signals in the month are summarised in Table 1. Monthly meteorological figures and departures from normal for March are tabulated in Table 2.
Ends/Thursday, April 2, 2026
Issued at HKT 16:00
Issued at HKT 16:00
NNNN