🇲🇴Macao

Macao is a tiny Chinese Special Administrative Region of approximately 33 km² situated on the Pearl River estuary's western shore, roughly 60 km west of Hong Kong. The territory comprises the Macau Peninsula — the original Portuguese colony with its UNESCO-listed historic centre — plus the islands of Taipa and Coloane, now linked by reclaimed land forming the Cotai casino strip.

Mostly low-lying with modest hills reaching 170 m at Coloane Alto, Macao is densely surrounded by the Pearl River delta's brown estuarine waters. This setting produces a humid subtropical climate with strong monsoon influence: hot wet summers dominated by the southeast monsoon and frequent typhoons, alongside cooler dry winters marked by occasional cold snaps from continental China.

Macao averages 16°C in January and 29°C in July, with 2,030 mm of rainfall concentrated almost entirely between April and September, peaking during the southwest monsoon and typhoon season. Coloane Alto and the Cotai strip experience similar conditions.

The dry winter from December through February brings cool grey weather with humidity still ranging from 65 to 75 percent, while spring ushers in the dramatic huinam phenomenon of persistent fog and condensation. Temperature extremes span from approximately 1.4°C in January 1948 to 38.9°C in August 1930.

Major climate events include the severe Typhoon Hato in August 2017 — the worst typhoon in 53 years, causing 10 deaths, US$1.4 billion in losses, prolonged power outages, and severe storm-surge flooding — followed by Typhoon Mangkhut in September 2018, prompting major flood-control upgrades. Other threats include recurrent Pearl River estuary storm surges, accelerating sea-level rise threatening Cotai's reclaimed casinos, intensifying summer heatwaves above 36°C, and deteriorating air quality amplified by Pearl River delta pollution.

Our archive covers 0 Macanese cities with daily ERA5 reanalysis data going back to 1940.