2018 was 8th warmest year on record for Singapore
The annual mean temperature of 27.9°C in 2018 made it the joint eighth warmest year on record for Singapore, tying with 2004, 2009 and 2014.
SINGAPORE — With 11 out of 12 months recording above-average temperatures, 2018 was the joint eighth warmest year for Singapore since temperature records started in 1929, the Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS) said.
These are “signs of the long-term ongoing warming in Singapore”, it said in its annual Climate Assessment Report released on Friday (March 22).
Last year, the annual mean temperature was 27.9°C — this was 0.4°C higher than the 1981-2010 long-term average, and 0.2°C warmer than 2017.
The period from 2009 to 2018 was also the warmest decade in Singapore ever recorded.
The mean temperature of 27.89°C superseded the previous warmest decade between 1997 and 2006 by a very small margin of 0.02°C, the MSS said.
SHORT COOL SPELL
Above-average temperatures were recorded in all months last year, except for January.
During that month, Singapore experienced an extended cool spell of five consecutive days from Jan 10 to 14.
This was due to frequent rain from monsoon surges and localised thunderstorms. Monsoon surges occur when there is a sudden increase in wind speed, causing cold air to surge southwards into the South China Sea.
Despite the cool start to 2018, the year ended on a notably warm note. The month of December saw a recorded temperature of 27.6°C, which is 1.2°C warmer than the long-term average.
This made it the second warmest December since 1929, behind December 2015, when the mercury hit 27.7°C.
JOINT EIGHTH WARMEST YEAR
Last year's annual mean temperature of 27.9°C made it the joint eighth warmest year on record for the country — the other years being 2004, 2009 and 2014.
The hottest year on record was 2016, with an annual mean temperature of 28.4°C.
The years 2015, 1998 and 1997 shared the joint second spot with a recorded annual mean temperature of 28.3°C.
STRONGEST GUST OF WIND RECORDED SINCE 2010
Though it was warm throughout the year, the MSS said that 2018 also saw the strongest gust of wind recorded since 2010, which was 133.3km/h.
This took place on March 30, when a thunderstorm that developed over the Malaysian state of Johor moved south-east and intensified over the western part of Singapore.
The strong winds later caused substantial damage to chicken farms located in Lim Chu Kang.
