With the northeast monsoon over southern China generally weaker than normal for most of the month, March continued to be much warmer than usual in the city, the Hong Kong Observatory said today.

The monthly mean temperature, monthly mean minimum temperature and monthly mean maximum temperature were 21.3 degrees Celsius, 19.4 degrees Celsius and 24.2 degrees Celsius.

The three figures were 1.8, 1.8 and 2.3 degrees above their corresponding normal temperatures, and the fourth, the fifth and the fifth highest on record for March.

Total rainfall in the month was 70.3mm, about 7% below the normal figure. The accumulated rainfall in the first three months of the year was 90.1mm, about 39% below the normal figure for the same period.

There were no tropical cyclones over the South China Sea and the western North Pacific during the month.