The Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (also known by its Portuguese acronym SMG) has issued a yellow cold weather alert in Macao and warned that continuous chilly temperatures are expected to last for the next few days.
Lows of 9 degrees celsius have been forecast for today and tomorrow, with highs of 12 and 13 respectively. Periods of rain are also on the cards.
Saturday – officially the first day of the Lunar New Year – is set to get underway at a cold 10 degrees celsius, but warm up to 17 degrees celsius during the day (before plummeting back down). Sunday’s temperature will move between 10 and 19 degrees celsius.
[See more: 2023 was Macao’s third hottest year on record]
The cold snap comes after an unseasonably hot week, with minimum temperatures at a relatively balmy 18 degrees celsius. The week prior saw the Taipa Grande Observatory record its coldest day this winter, 4.3 degrees on 24 January.
SMG has previously noted that erratic temperature fluctuations are a sign of global climate change, and warned they are bound to become more frequent.
Earlier this month, the bureau published a report showing modelling data that indicated the number of hot days in the city is projected to more than double by the middle of this century owing to climate change.
