Wet weather to continue for the rest of March: Met Service
Two women walk with umbrellas under the rain in Singapore. (File photo: AFP/Roslan Rahman)
SINGAPORE: The wet weather forecast in the first half of March is expected to continue for the rest of the month, said the Meteorological Service Singapore on Wednesday (Mar 16).
There will be light variable winds, warm weather and thunderstorms, brought about by the end of the north-east monsoon season and the start of the inter-monsoon period, the Met Service said.
Lightning activity is highest during the inter-monsoon period, forecast to last through April, it added.
Over the next two weeks till Mar 31, light, variable winds blowing from the south-west or west are expected on several days.
As the Sumatra squalls move eastward toward the South China Sea, "widespread moderate to heavy thundery showers with occasional gusty winds" are expected over Singapore in the early or pre-dawn hours, said the Met Service.
Other days may see short, moderate to heavy thundery showers over parts of the island in the afternoon. However, the Met Service warned that thundery showers could extend into the evening when there is strong convergence of winds in the surrounding vicinity.
Overall, the rainfall for the month of March is expected to be above average over most parts of Singapore.
Despite the wet weather, the daily maximum temperature could still reach a high of around 35 degrees Celsius on "one or two days", the Met Service said.
On most days, the daily temperature is forecast to be between 24 degrees Celsius and 34 degrees Celsius. The Sumatra squalls may bring cooler daily temperatures of between 23 degrees Celsius and 32 degrees Celsius on a few days, it added.
TEMPERATURES REACHED HIGH OF 36°C IN FIRST HALF OF MARCH
In its review of the first half of March, the Met Service noted that there were thundery showers over parts of the island on most afternoons and evenings.
On Mar 7, the large-scale convergence of winds over Singapore and the surrounding region led to moderate to heavy thundery showers over many areas in the country, particularly in the southern and western parts.
The daily total rainfall of 134.2mm recorded at Jurong West that day was the highest recorded in the first half of March 2022, said the Met Service.
But though it rained on most days, there were seven days in the first half of March when the maximum temperatures recorded reached 34 degrees Celsius or more.
The highest daily maximum temperature of 36 degrees Celsius was recorded at Paya Lebar on Mar 13, while the lowest daily minimum temperature was 22.1 degrees Celsius recorded at Admiralty and Jurong on Mar 2 and Mar 10.
Many parts of Singapore recorded above-average rainfall in the first two weeks of March, with the rainfall recorded at Jurong West 173 per cent above average. Tuas West experienced less rainfall, which was 52 per cent below average.
