A relatively dry and bright April
With drier northeast monsoon affecting Hong Kong for most of the time and less moisture supply to the coast of southern China in the month, April 2025 was drier than usual in Hong Kong. The monthly mean relative humidity was 74 per cent, the second lowest on record for April since 1947. Moreover, the total rainfall in the month was 57.1 millimetres, only about 37 per cent of the normal of 153.0 millimetres. The accumulated rainfall recorded in the first four months of the year was 125.5 millimetres, about 42 per cent of the normal of 300.4 millimetres for the same period. The month was also sunnier than usual. The monthly total sunshine duration was 155.6 hours, about 37 per cent above the normal of 113.2 hours. April 2025 was warmer than usual with a mean temperature of 23.7 degrees, 0.7 degrees above the normal of 23.0 degrees.
Under the influence of the northeast monsoon and a broad band of clouds covering southern China, the weather was mainly cloudy and cold with one or two light rain patches on the morning of the first day of the month. The temperatures at the Observatory fell to a minimum of 12.9 degrees that morning, the lowest of the month. With the band of clouds thinning out, there were sunny periods during the day. The weather became fine and dry the next day. Under the influence of a dry easterly airstream, it remained fine and very dry on the afternoon of April 3. While it was generally fine at first on April 4, a band of clouds gradually covered the coast of Guangdong, leading to cloudier weather that afternoon and the following two days. There were occasional showers on April 5, with around 10 millimetres of rainfall recorded over many places. With the band of clouds thinning out, the weather became mainly fine on April 7. It was dry and rather warm during the day. Winds were weak over the coast of Guangdong on April 8 and 9. The weather in Hong Kong was rather warm with sunny periods.
A southerly airstream brought humid weather in the following three days. Locally, there were fog patches on the morning of April 11, with the visibility in the harbour once falling below 1 000 metres. Moreover, a trough of low pressure over northern Guangdong developed into a cold front on the morning of April 12. As the cold front edged closer to the coastal region, local showers increased with a few squally thunderstorms that afternoon. More than 10 millimetres of rainfall was recorded over many places, and rainfall even exceeded 20 millimetres over Tai Po District. The cold front moved across the coastal areas around that evening. Under the influence of the associated intense and dry northeast monsoon, showers eased off with temperatures falling gradually that night. Strong northerly winds also affected many parts of Hong Kong that night and at first the next day, with winds occasionally reaching gale force offshore and on high ground. The intense monsoon also transported sand and dust southwards from Mongolia and brought widespread sandstorms to many inland areas in China. Under the influence of the very dry continental airstream and the sand and dust weather, the weather was very dry with visibility slightly dropping to around 5 to 6 kilometres over parts of the territory from April 13 to 15. The relative humidity over many places on these three days fell below 40 per cent. The relative humidity recorded at the Observatory on April 13 once fell to 21 per cent, the lowest record in April since the establishment of the automatic weather station at the Observatory's Headquarters in 1984. With plenty of sunshine and weaker winds on April 15, the temperatures at the Observatory soared to a maximum of 33.0 degrees that afternoon, the highest of the month. It also marked the earliest occurrence of very hot weather in a year and the second highest maximum temperature for April on record.
An easterly airstream affected the coast of Guangdong on April 16 and 17. While the local weather was mainly fine and dry during the day on April 16, it became mainly cloudy the next day with coastal fog in the morning and at night. The visibility at Waglan Island once fell below 1 000 metres. With a humid southerly airstream replacing the easterly airstream that afternoon, the weather was cloudy with a few showers in the following two days. There was coastal fog from April 18 to 21. The southerly airstream continued to affect the coast of Guangdong and brought hot weather to Hong Kong from April 20 to 24. The maximum temperature recorded at the Observatory was 30.6 degrees on April 20, making it one of the warmest day of Easter on record.
A trough of low pressure affected inland Guangdong on April 24 and edged closer to the coastal areas in the evening, bringing showers and a few squally thunderstorms that night and the next day. Showers were heavy on the morning of April 25. More than 30 millimetres of rainfall was recorded over many places, and rainfall even exceeded 50 millimetres over the eastern part of Hong Kong Island, Kwun Tong and Tseung Kwan O. With a fresh to strong easterly airstream setting in that night, the weather was cloudy with a few showers and became cooler in the following two days. There were also fog patches on April 27. The visibility at Waglan Island once fell below 1 000 metres. Another trough of low pressure over inland Guangdong edged closer to the coastal areas gradually that night. Apart from coastal fog on the morning of April 28, there were showers and one or two thunderstorms that day with rainfall exceeding 10 millimetres over many places, and around 30 millimetres of rainfall was even recorded over the northern part of the New Territories. Affected by a relatively dry easterly airstream, the weather was generally fine on the last two days of the month.
There was no tropical cyclone over the South China Sea and the western North Pacific in April 2025.
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 April are tabulated in Table 2.
Source: AI-generated images
Government announces updates on follow-up work on Tai Po fire
The three task forces set up by the Government for the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po - the Task Force on Investigation and Regulation, the Task Force on Emergency Support and Fund-Raising, and the Task Force on Emergency Accommodation Arrangements - are making full efforts to follow up on the support, relief, and investigation work related to the incident. Details are as follows:
Financial and welfare support
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For the Support Fund for Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po, established by the Government, donations received are about $3.4 billion as of noon today (December 16). With the start-up capital of $300 million from the Government, the fund's total has now reached around $3.7 billion. The fund will be used to assist residents in rebuilding their homes and providing long-term and sustained support.
The Government earlier announced that a living allowance from the Support Fund will be provided to each affected household, and the amount has been increased from $50,000 to $100,000. As of today, 1 906 cases have been processed. In addition, the Government will provide families of each deceased victim with a token of solidarity of $200,000, as well as $50,000 to cover funeral costs. As of today, a total of 134 cases have been processed. The allowance will be disbursed in phases.
Social workers from the Social Welfare Department (SWD) have been in contact with more than 1 980 affected households, providing the "one social worker per household" follow-up service to more than 4 900 residents. The SWD will maintain liaison with the affected households to provide all necessary assistance while fully supporting the relief work of the Government.
Accommodation support
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As of this morning, a total of 1 236 residents have been accommodated, through the co-ordination of the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau, in youth hostels, camps, or hotel rooms. Another 3 354 residents are currently living in transitional housing units provided by the Housing Bureau, units from the Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS) or Po Tin Interim Housing in Tuen Mun.
Currently, there is still an abundant supply of more than 1 000 units that can provide affected residents with longer term accommodation. The transitional housing and HKHS projects in different districts can altogether provide around 400 units at the moment. Besides, Po Tin Interim Housing in Tuen Mun and Runway 1331 at Kai Tak can provide a supply of around 900 units.
In addition, staff from the operating organisations of transitional housing and HKHS, as well as volunteers have been working around the clock to furnish the units with essential supplies, striving to meet the needs of the residents. All the currently available units in transitional housing and HKHS projects are equipped with furniture and appliances such as bed frames, mattresses, induction cookers and water heaters, etc, enabling the residents to settle in comfortably. At the same time, members of the community have proactively extended their support by volunteering time and donating essential supplies, offering multifaceted assistance to the affected residents. Taking Good House in Tai Po as an example, over 1 200 volunteers have contributed to provide services such as free transportation and medical support. The project has also received numerous donations, including food, furniture, appliances, and various daily necessities, effectively addressing residents’ immediate needs, reflecting a strong sense of community solidarity and mutual support.
Relief supplies and donations
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The supplies donation online platform, established by the Government and the information technology sector, continues to operate, facilitating the registration of supplies donations from organisations and the public. The Government has so far received over 1 900 registrations, of which approximately 30 per cent were submitted by organisations, whereas the others were contributed by the public. The various registered donation items include food and beverages, clothing, daily necessities, bedding, and electrical appliances. The Government is actively assessing residents' actual needs through the relevant policy bureau, government departments, and service organisations for the matching of donated supplies in order to distribute appropriate items in phases to places in need. So far, over 24 000 donation items covering various categories have been distributed to different places. The matching and distribution of supplies will continue.
Regulation and inspection work
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The Fire Services Department (FSD) has redeployed manpower internally to enhance inspections of fire service installations and equipment (FSIs) in buildings, particularly those undergoing major maintenance, and has proactively inspected the functional status of fire alarms. Should any non-compliance be identified, the department will conduct thorough investigations and decisively take enforcement actions. At the same time, the department has redeployed personnel to promptly follow up on reports of abnormal operation of FSIs in buildings and will take appropriate enforcement actions accordingly.
The Independent Checking Unit of the Housing Bureau has completed the extraction of concrete core samples from the seven affected buildings at Wang Fuk Court. Initial structural assessment is underway.
In addition, following the establishment of an Independent Committee in relation to the fire at Wang Fuk Court in Tai Po as announced by the Chief Executive on December 12, the Chief Secretary for Administration has explicitly directed all relevant government departments and units to actively co-operate and fully support the committee’s work. Currently, the relevant policy bureaux and departments are compiling various materials related to regulation and inspection work as well as the fire incident. These materials will be submitted to the committee for reference as soon as possible, facilitating the smooth commencement of its review work.
Source: AI-found images
