What is the difference between weather and climate?
Although both "Weather" and "Climate" are used to describe the condition of the atmosphere, they are very different in terms of the time scale considered. "Weather" describes the combined atmospheric situation in a place at the time or within a very short time (several hours to a few days), such as wind speed, temperature, cloud amount, rainfall, pressure, etc. "Climate" refers to the average of the meteorological condition and pattern in a place over a longer period of time. In other words, "Climate" can be described as the "Average Weather". According to the definition of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the reference period for compiling the climate statistics should be at least 30 years.
More information on the climate of Hong Kong is available from the Observatory's "Climatological Information Services" webpage: