Thundery Showers on Most Days with Onset of Inter-Monsoon Conditions

Singapore, 1 November 2023 – The Southwest Monsoon is coming to an end and inter-monsoon conditions are expected to set in during the first week of November 2023. The inter-monsoon period is characterised by light and variable winds, and thunderstorms which may at times be heavy. Lightning activity tends to be higher during the inter-monsoon months than other months of the year.

2    Afternoon thundery showers are expected on most days in the first half of November 2023. The showers may extend into the evening on a few days. November is climatologically one of the wettest months for Singapore. While showers are expected on most days, we expect below average rainfall in the first fortnight of November 2023.

3    The daily maximum temperatures in the first fortnight of November 2023 are forecast to range between 33 degrees Celsius and 35 degrees Celsius on most days.

4     For updates of the daily weather forecast and PSI readings, please visit the MSS website (https://www.weather.gov.sg), NEA website (www.nea.gov.sg), or download the myENV app.

 

REVIEW (1 – 31 October 2023)

5    Southwest Monsoon conditions prevailed over Singapore and the surrounding region in October 2023, with low-level winds blowing mostly from the southeast or southwest.

6    The second fortnight of October 2023 saw more showers as the rain band shifted closer to the Equatorial region. Short-duration thundery showers fell over parts of the island in the afternoon on most days. The showers extended into the evening on a few of these days. On 23 October 2023, widespread moderate to heavy thundery showers occurred over many parts of the island in the afternoon. The daily total rainfall of 88.4 mm recorded at Jurong West that day was the highest rainfall recorded for October 2023.

7    Following the haze episode which affected Singapore on 7 and 8 October 2023, the haze situation gradually improved with increased showers over Singapore and the surrounding region later in the month.

8    October 2023 was generally warm with daily maximum temperatures above 34 degrees Celsius on 25 days. On 9 October 2023, temperatures exceeded 35 degrees Celsius in several parts of Singapore, with 36.3 degrees Celsius recorded at Admiralty. This is the highest temperature ever recorded in Singapore in the month of October, surpassing the previous record high of 35.7 degrees Celsius recorded on 14 October 2001 and 13 October 2019.

9    Below average rainfall was recorded across the island in October 2023 with the highest anomaly of 72 per cent below-average recorded at Yio Chu Kang.

 

 

CLIMATE STATION STATISTICS

Long-term Statistics for November
(Climatological reference period: 1991 – 2020)

Average daily maximum temperature: 31.2 °C
Average daily minimum temperature: 24.6 °C
Average monthly temperature: 27.2 °C
Average rainfall: 252.3 mm
Average number of rain days: 19

 

Historical Extremes for November
(Rainfall since 1869 and temperature since 1929)

Highest monthly mean daily maximum temperature: 32.3°C (2019)
Lowest monthly mean daily minimum temperature: 22.4 °C (1933)
Highest monthly rainfall ever recorded: 521.5 mm (1874)
Lowest monthly rainfall ever recorded: 53.5 mm (1981)