Lunar New Year period expected to be rainy
Advisory
Singapore, 1 February 2016 – Northeast Monsoon conditions are forecast to persist in February 2016 with the prevailing low level winds blowing predominantly from the north or northeast.
2. In the first fortnight of February 2016, short-duration thundery showers are expected mostly in the afternoon on four to five days. The showers may be heavy at times on days when there is convergence of winds coupled with strong solar heating of land areas. For two or three days around the Lunar New Year period, a monsoon surge[1] is forecast to affect the region and this is expected to bring widespread rain and occasionally windy conditions to Singapore. Rainfall for the first two weeks of February 2016 is expected to be slightly above average.
3. The warmer temperatures experienced in the past few months are expected to extend into the first fortnight of February 2016. During this period, the daily maximum and minimum temperatures could reach as high as 34°C and 27°C respectively on some days.
Review (1 – 31 January 2016)
4. The Northeast Monsoon season prevailed in January 2016, and the low level winds blew predominantly from the northeast.
5. Apart from a weak monsoon surge which brought widespread moderate rain over Singapore on a few days in the first week of January 2016, the rest of the month experienced afternoon and early evening thundery showers on most days due to strong solar heating of land areas and convergence of winds in the vicinity of Singapore. The thundery showers were heaviest on 22 January 2016 where the highest total daily rainfall recorded was 78.8mm around the Kent Ridge area.
6. Most parts of Singapore received below average rainfall in January 2016. Rainfall was lowest over the north-eastern part of Singapore around Sengkang, where 86 mm to 98 mm (56 to 62% below average) was recorded. The highest rainfall of 235 mm to 322 mm (9 to 59% above average) was recorded in the western part of Singapore around Jurong.
7. Despite the occurrence of showers on many days in January 2016, significantly warmer than usual conditions were experienced during the month. The mean daily maximum temperature (31.6°C) and mean daily minimum temperature (26.0°C) for January 2016 are 1.2°C and 2.1°C above their respective long-term means.
8. The mean monthly temperature of 28.3°C for January 2016 marks the warmest ever January since temperature records began in 1929, surpassing the previous record of 28.0°C set in January 1998. This follows the warmest December on record the previous month. December and January are climatologically the coolest months of the year.
CLIMATE STATION STATISTICS FOR FEBRUARY (Climatological reference period: 1981 – 2010)
| Mean daily maximum temperature | 112.8 mm |
| Highest rainfall ever recorded | 470.4 mm (1984) |
| Lowest rainfall ever recorded | 0.2 mm (2014) |
| Average number of raindays | 8 |
| Mean daily maximum temperature | 31.7 degrees Celsius |
| Mean daily minimum temperature | 24.3 degrees Celsius |
| Mean monthly temperature | 27.1 degrees Celsius |
[1] A monsoon surge is characteristic of the wet phase of the Northeast Monsoon season (Dec – Jan). It is due to the strengthening of northeasterly winds over the South China Sea and our surrounding region, and can bring widespread rain to coastal areas in the Southeast Asia region. Read more at http://www.weather.gov.sg/learn_weather_systems.
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