Study of Extreme Cold Surges in Hong Kong
Temperatures over Hong Kong have shown a marked increasing trend since the 1970s due to global warming and urbanization, but outbreaks of intense winter monsoon can bring very low temperatures in Hong Kong at times. This study aims at establishing criteria of extreme cold surges that suit the climat...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-01-01
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| Series: | Meteorology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2674-0494/2/1/4 |
| _version_ | 1797610162992709632 |
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| author | Man-Lok Chong Hon-Yin Yeung Kai-Kwong Hon |
| author_facet | Man-Lok Chong Hon-Yin Yeung Kai-Kwong Hon |
| author_sort | Man-Lok Chong |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Temperatures over Hong Kong have shown a marked increasing trend since the 1970s due to global warming and urbanization, but outbreaks of intense winter monsoon can bring very low temperatures in Hong Kong at times. This study aims at establishing criteria of extreme cold surges that suit the climatological characteristics of Hong Kong. Surges in this study were selected through percentile ranking of three weather attributes of each cold event: the lowest temperature, the largest temperature drop and the maximum sustained wind speed. Out of 152 cold events in 1991–2020, only four significant cold events in 1991, 1993, 2010 and 2016 met the most extreme 10th percentile of the three attributes concurrently and could be classified operationally as “extreme cold surge”. Very cold temperatures (at or below 7.0 °C), a temperature drop of at least 8.0 °C in two days and gale force wind speed (at or above 17.5 m/s) were recorded in all four surges. The results of classification are illustrated by selected cases. As ensemble products of some numerical weather prediction models tend to have a stable indication of extremity of cold events, the potential applications of cross-referencing the forecast and actual extremity in operational forecasting are also discussed. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T06:10:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-bc655114a9234e9cad9216fdb95ca63d |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2674-0494 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T06:10:39Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Meteorology |
| spelling | doaj.art-bc655114a9234e9cad9216fdb95ca63d2023-11-17T12:40:34ZengMDPI AGMeteorology2674-04942023-01-0121527110.3390/meteorology2010004Study of Extreme Cold Surges in Hong KongMan-Lok Chong0Hon-Yin Yeung1Kai-Kwong Hon2Hong Kong Observatory, Hong Kong 999077, ChinaHong Kong Observatory, Hong Kong 999077, ChinaHong Kong Observatory, Hong Kong 999077, ChinaTemperatures over Hong Kong have shown a marked increasing trend since the 1970s due to global warming and urbanization, but outbreaks of intense winter monsoon can bring very low temperatures in Hong Kong at times. This study aims at establishing criteria of extreme cold surges that suit the climatological characteristics of Hong Kong. Surges in this study were selected through percentile ranking of three weather attributes of each cold event: the lowest temperature, the largest temperature drop and the maximum sustained wind speed. Out of 152 cold events in 1991–2020, only four significant cold events in 1991, 1993, 2010 and 2016 met the most extreme 10th percentile of the three attributes concurrently and could be classified operationally as “extreme cold surge”. Very cold temperatures (at or below 7.0 °C), a temperature drop of at least 8.0 °C in two days and gale force wind speed (at or above 17.5 m/s) were recorded in all four surges. The results of classification are illustrated by selected cases. As ensemble products of some numerical weather prediction models tend to have a stable indication of extremity of cold events, the potential applications of cross-referencing the forecast and actual extremity in operational forecasting are also discussed.https://www.mdpi.com/2674-0494/2/1/4cold surgeextreme weatherclimatepercentile rankingforecasting |
| spellingShingle | Man-Lok Chong Hon-Yin Yeung Kai-Kwong Hon Study of Extreme Cold Surges in Hong Kong Meteorology cold surge extreme weather climate percentile ranking forecasting |
| title | Study of Extreme Cold Surges in Hong Kong |
| title_full | Study of Extreme Cold Surges in Hong Kong |
| title_fullStr | Study of Extreme Cold Surges in Hong Kong |
| title_full_unstemmed | Study of Extreme Cold Surges in Hong Kong |
| title_short | Study of Extreme Cold Surges in Hong Kong |
| title_sort | study of extreme cold surges in hong kong |
| topic | cold surge extreme weather climate percentile ranking forecasting |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2674-0494/2/1/4 |
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