Macau’s weather in 2025 stood out as a year marked by extreme phenomena, setting several records, the Macau Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG) said in a report on New Year’s Eve.
In the report summarising Macau’s weather last year, the observatory pointed out that “global temperature anomalies continued to persist in 2025,” adding that, according to a report published by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), last year may have been the second or third hottest on record. The period from 2015 to 2025 is set to be the 11 hottest years recorded to date.
“With global warming, extreme weather events are occurring more frequently around the world. In Macau, 2025 stood out as a year marked by extreme phenomena, setting several records,” the observatory said.
In its report, the observatory analysed last year’s “extreme weather conditions” in Macau as follows:
Tropical Storms
In 2025, Macau was affected by 14 tropical storms, breaking the previous record of 12 tropical storms recorded in 1974, thus making it the year with the highest number of tropical storms since 1968. During the passage of Typhoon "Wipha" and Super Typhoon "Ragasa", the Tropical Storm Signal No. 10 was issued twice in the same year for the first time. At the same time, the Signal No. 10 resulting from "Ragasa" was in effect for a record-breaking duration of 10 hours and 30 minutes, being a Signal No. 10 Typhoon that passed 90 km from Macau.
Moreover, throughout the year, a total of four tropical storms led to the issuance of Tropical Storm Signal No. 8, including Typhoon "Wipha", Severe Tropical Cyclone "Tapah", Super Typhoon "Ragasa", and Typhoon "Matmo". Last year equalled 1993, 2008, and 2022 for the highest number of issuances of Signal No. 8.
During the impact of Typhoon "Ragasa", significant flooding occurred due to "storm surge" conditions, with the tide reaching 4.67 metres, causing severe widespread flooding in Macau. In some areas of the Inner Harbour neighbourhood, the maximum flood height reached 1.51 metres, the fourth highest on record since 1967.
Heavy Rain
Although the total precipitation in 2025 was normal, extreme rainfall events occurred frequently. The heavy rain signal was issued 37 times throughout the year. The “Black” signal was issued twice, and the “Red” signal was issued four times. This marked the second year with the highest number of heavy rain signal issuances since the current heavy rain signal system came into force (the first was in 2021). During the period when the Black Heavy Rain Signal was in effect on August 14, a maximum hourly rainfall of 110.0 millimetres was recorded at the Ka-Ho Meteorological Station, causing severe flooding in the Cotai area. The water level monitoring station on Caminho das Hortas in Taipa recorded a maximum flood level of 0.92 metres.
Hot Weather
The overall temperature in Macau showed a warming trend in 2025. The annual average temperature was 23.2 degrees Celsius, 0.4 degrees Celsius higher than the climatic averages, likely making it the fifth hottest year since 1952. The total number of hot days throughout the year was 37, exceeding the climatic average of 31.3 days by 5.7 days. On the other hand, the number of warm nights was 11, which is similar to the climatic average of 11.5 nights. During the year, only 27 cold days were recorded, representing a decrease of 12.1 days compared to the climatic average of 39.1 days. The increase in the number of hot days in Macau contrasts sharply with the decrease in cold days, reflecting that, in the context of global warming, high-temperature events in Macau will become increasingly frequent.
Overview
In 2025, the maximum recorded temperature on July 5 was 35.3 degrees Celsius, while the minimum recorded temperature on January 27 was 9.4 degrees Celsius.
The total annual precipitation was 1,891.0 millimetres, considered normal. The number of rainy days recorded was 139 days, while the maximum daily precipitation recorded on August 14 was 265.4 millimetres.
The total annual sunshine duration was 2,551.4 hours (106 days and 41 minutes), which is relatively high, while the total annual evaporation was 861.3 millimetres, considered normal.
N.B. Translation from Portuguese arranged and edited by The Macau Post Daily, including various addenda. The translation, however, is a shortened version of the original text.
