More rain expected in first half of March, possible highs of 34 degrees Celsius

SINGAPORE: There will be more rain in the first half of March than the last fortnight of February, even as temperatures are expected to reach a high of about 34 degrees Celsius on several days.

The Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS) on Monday (Mar 1) said the weather during the first two weeks of March will continue to be influenced by the prevailing Northeast Monsoon.

During this period, the low-level winds are forecast to blow from the northwest or northeast.

With the monsoon rain band forecast to lie closer to the equator in the coming fortnight, more showers can be expected compared to the last fortnight of February, said MSS.

While showers are expected, the daily maximum temperature could still reach a high of about 34 degrees Celsius on a few days.

MSS said the daily temperature on most days is forecast to range between 24 and 33 degrees Celsius.

“On the first few days of March 2021, a mass of dry air is forecast over the equatorial Southeast Asia region. This is expected to bring stable atmospheric conditions over Singapore and the surrounding region, and generally fair and occasionally windy conditions are expected," said MSS.

Short-duration thundery showers are expected over parts of the island in the afternoon on most days during the second week of March. This is due to the monsoon rain band that will migrate closer to the equator.

On a few of these days, MSS said heavy thundery showers can be expected particularly when there is convergence of winds over Singapore and the surrounding area, coupled with strong day time heating of land areas.

Overall, the rainfall for the first half of March is forecast to be near normal over most parts of the island.

DRY AND WINDY FEBRUARY

The weather in February was “fair and windy on most days” with some days seeing moderate short-duration thundery showers over a few parts of Singapore in the afternoon.

Despite this, Singapore received well below normal rainfall last month. The highest anomaly of 99 per cent below average was recorded at Changi while the anomaly was lowest at Sentosa at 8 per cent below average, said MSS.

The highest daily total rainfall was 46.9mm at Kranji on Feb 11.

At the Changi climate station, the total rainfall recorded last month was 1mm, which ranks February 2021 as the second driest February since rainfall records in Singapore began in 1869.

The driest recorded February in Singapore was February 2014 with a monthly total of 0.2mm.

The dry weather also resulted in the lowest average daily relative humidity of 73.8 per cent recorded for February since continuous humidity records commenced in 1984, surpassing the previous record low of 74.1 per cent in February 2019.

Last month was also “particularly windy”, with an average daily wind speed of 13.1 kmh recorded at the Changi climate station.

This ranks February 2021 as the second windiest February since continuous wind records commenced in 1984, behind the 13.7 kmh recorded in February 2014.