City sets new record for highest October temperature

Macau sweltered through its hottest October on Oct. 4, reaching 35.2 degrees Celsius, which was attributed to Typhoon Koinu, with the city entering autumn in September.

According to the Meteorological and Geophysics Bureau (SMG), the Oct. 4 temperature broke the record for the highest October temperature since 1952.

October also saw three extremely hot days, the second October with the most number of sweltering days since records began.

Meanwhile, in July, under the influence of Typhoon Talim’s outer subsidence airflow, the daily maximum temperature was 36.6 degrees Celsius, the third highest in July since 1952.

Replying to the Times, SMG said Macau’s annual average temperature over the past decade has been on the high side, with 2019 to 2021 being the warmest three years since 1952.

While 2019 was the warmest year (23.6 degrees Celsius), 2021 and 2020 were the second and third warmest years respectively.

In terms of extreme high temperatures, the daily maximum temperature of 38 degrees Celsius recorded in August 2017 was the hottest day since 1952, the local weather bureau said.

According to climate data for the past 32 years (1991-2020), although Macau entered autumn in September, the average number of days with hot weather was 6.3, and hot weather was recorded in October.

In addition, Macau’s cumulative rainfall in October was 295.4 mm, about four times Macau’s 30-year climate average. The daily cumulative rainfall on Oct. 9 reached 231.6 millimeters, which was the third highest daily figure in October in 71 years, which was also influenced by Typhoon Koinu.

The typhoon, which brought Hong Kong and Macau to a standstill, injured more than 300 as it brought pounding rain and record-breaking winds to the island, leading to school and office closures.

As the Earth sweltered to its hottest Northern Hemisphere summer ever recorded, Macau, as well as Hong Kong, shared in the misery.

The Hong Kong Observatory said this year’s summer was much hotter than normal in August.

Its average August temperature was 29.7 degrees Celsius, while the average maximum August temperature was 32.4 degrees Celsius, 1.1 degrees higher than normal and one of the second-hottest Augusts on record. 

“Together with the unusually hot June and July, Hong Kong experienced the hottest summer on record,” the observatory noted.

Japan’s summer this year was the country’s hottest since records began in 1898.

A record warm August capped the season of brutal and deadly temperatures, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

August 2023 was not only the hottest August scientists ever recorded by far with modern equipment, but it was also the second hottest month measured, behind only July 2023, the WMO and the European climate service, Copernicus, previously announced.

Further, the SMG has warned Macau would continue to have high temperatures for the rest of the week and temperatures would reach up to 30 degrees Celsius, yet a sharp drop in temperatures is expected after the weekend, falling as low as 17 degrees Celsius by Tuesday.