In Hong Kong, Frost Chasers Seek the Thrill of the Chill

As blizzards and ice storms pummel cities from New York to Hangzhou, Hong Kong—a place where residents rarely need to break out the fleece—is thrilling over its own extreme-weather phenomenon: frost.
A cold front across east Asia has brought thousands of Hong Kong frost-hunters to the city’s peaks during recent nights. The chill-seekers are hoping to see ice-rimmed leaves, sleet or even snow—many for the first time ever.

So large were the crowds one recent night that hikers lined up to frost-gaze from Hong Kong Island’s famous Victoria Peak, and police closed off access to 3,140-foot Tai Mo Shan, the city’s tallest mountain, after the congestion on the road got so bad that emergency vehicles couldn’t get through.
“This was totally worth it!” said high-school student Jack Wong, 17 years old, who was huddled by a gas stove eating instant noodles in the freezing rain around 5 a.m. Sunday, not far from the Tai Mo Shan peak. Mr. Wong, who says he has never seen snow, had hiked with five friends for two hours to experience the maximum chill at the summit. “Look at my jacket, it’s covered in ice,” he said.
Welcome to polar vortex à la Hong Kong, where the most frigid weather is usually found in over-chilled shopping malls in the summer. Temperatures in the subtropical city average 77 degrees Fahrenheit or higher from May to October, and generally stay above 59 degrees in January, according to the Hong Kong Observatory.
That means native Hong Kongers rarely get a chance to see frost, which forms only when the temperature on the ground goes below freezing. Snow, which requires moist air at near- or freezing temperatures, is even rarer, having last occurred in 1975, according to the observatory.
A dip in the mercury that would barely register in colder climes can cause a flurry of excitement in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Observatory issued a cold-weather warning—which includes an admonition not to light fires indoors—when temperatures hit the low 50s at the end of last week, and a frost warning on Saturday. Amateur weather-watcher group Hong Kong Weather Information Center posted on its Facebook page even colder forecasts for Hong Kong from a bevy of global meteorological sites. The city’s biggest English-language newspaper, the South China Morning Post, speculated on the possibility of an “ice storm” hitting the city.
At Tai Mo Shan, literally “big foggy mountain” in Cantonese, a line of cars inched up the winding road to the peak, bumper to bumper, in the wee hours of Sunday morning. Normally the journey takes about 15 minutes from base to peak, but many drivers gave up and turned back after hours of idling, while groups of bundled-up frost-chasers trudged past armed with walking poles, reflective blankets and photography equipment.

Not everyone came prepared for cold and ice: Some hikers were making the trek in Nike running shoes, while others tried to ride bicycles up the frozen slope. The road was so slick that people unused to walking on icy streets fell flat on their backs. At one particularly slippery uphill stretch, several hikers resorted to crawling forward on all fours. Many descending the mountain slid down the hill on their bottoms, cheered on by friends.
Crowds thinned toward the top, as the winds strengthened and the road became icier. Near the summit, the headlamps and flashlights of hikers shone against a panorama of orange city lights. Some frost hounds had pitched tents to spend the night.
Though there was no snow, freezing rain meant large amounts of slushy ice—as well as plenty of frost, enveloping everything from tree branches to road signs and car license plates.
Frankie Fong, a 27-year-old electronic technician, drew a crowd by building a tiny snowman with the ice on the road, using mini M&Ms for eyes.
“I am so excited right now, I never thought in my lifetime I would be able to build a snowman in Hong Kong,” said Mr. Fong, lying on his side next to his frozen creation as passersby snapped photos.
Ming Wong, 30, a real-estate worker who was climbing with five other members of Hong Kong Weather Information Center, said he was only “half-half” in terms of satisfaction, because he had hoped to see snow or sleet, which is made when raindrops freeze before hitting the ground.A firefighter helps a hiker on icy gound at Tai Mo Shan in Hong Kong. Photo: Reuters

The lack of sleet was partially alleviated by Mr. Wong’s first experience of freezing rain, which is made when rain freezes upon impact with the cold ground. Mr. Wong said the group found the temperature “unexpectedly low,” with a reading on their thermometer of minus 4.9 degrees Celsius, or 23 degrees Fahrenheit, at 4:43 a.m.
“We all felt very excited, because the seasonal forecast told us this winter is warmer than normal, and suddenly this intensive cold surge formed around east Asia,” said Mr. Wong.
The Hong Kong Observatory said it recorded a temperature of 3.3 degrees Celsius, or 38 degrees Fahrenheit, at its headquarters early Sunday, the lowest in 59 years. By Sunday afternoon, Hong Kong officials were begging frost-watchers to stay home, after logging dozens of cases of hypothermia on Tai Mo Shan, and more than 100 people stranded on various peaks.
“I want to use this chance to ask Hong Kong people not to go up to the mountains,” said Wong Ka-wing, an acting division commander in the Hong Kong fire department, in a televised interview.
Still, snow remained elusive, though videos showing specks floating in the air in locations around Hong Kong proliferated online. The Hong Kong Observatory said that the most residents could expect from the skies are “small ice pellets,” though that, too, seemed elusive as the sun came out and warmed temperatures by a few degrees on Monday and Tuesday.