A rare hailstorm hit Tseung Kwan O at around 1pm on Thursday, with online video footage and photos shared by residents showing the area being pounded by small balls of ice.
The observatory said the phenomenon was caused by high temperature and unsettled weather.
“The atmosphere was rather unstable. The weather was fine this morning so the high temperature triggered severe squally thunderstorms,” senior scientific officer Kong Wai told RTHK.
“Usually in severe squally thunderstorms, it would associate with convective development, which brings the ice in the air to the ground.”
He said the last hailstorm recorded by the observatory was in July 2016.
