August was much hotter than usual this year due to a warmer than normal sea surface temperature over the northern part of the South China Sea, the Hong Kong Observatory announced today.

The observatory said the mean temperature for the month was 29 degrees Celsius, 0.4 degrees above normal.

With plenty of sunshine, the maximum temperature at the observatory soared to 35.1 degrees on August 9, the highest of the month.

From June to August, the mean temperature was 27.2 degrees Celsius, while the mean minimum and maximum temperatures were 29.2 and 31.8 degrees, the second, third and fourth highest on record for the same period.

August was also wetter than normal due to the heavy rain brought by tropical cyclones Wipha and Bailu, with total rainfall of 596.4 mm, which is 38% above normal.

The accumulated rainfall recorded in the first eight months of the year was 2,034.3 mm, 7% more than the normal figure of 1,905.5 mm for the same period.

Six tropical cyclones occurred over the South China Sea and the western North Pacific in August.