Warm Weather to Prevail for the Rest of March 2020

Singapore, 16 March 2020 – The warm weather experienced in the first fortnight of March 2020 is expected to persist for the rest of the month. The daily maximum temperature on most days in the coming fortnight is forecast to be around 34°C and could reach a high of around 36°C on a few days.

2          Despite the warm conditions, short-duration moderate to heavy thundery showers can still be expected over parts of Singapore in the afternoon on some days. The thundery showers are due to strong solar heating of land areas and convergence of winds in the surrounding vicinity. On one or two days, the thundery showers could extend into the evening. Overall, the rainfall for March 2020 is forecast to be below normal over most parts of Singapore.

3          In the coming fortnight, the prevailing Northeast Monsoon conditions with low-level winds blowing from the northeast or east are expected to persist. However, a gradual weakening of the low-level winds to become light and variable in direction can be expected around the end of the month.

4         For updates of the daily weather and haze situation, please visit the MSS website (www.weather.gov.sg), NEA website (www.nea.gov.sg), or download the myENV app, MSS’ Weather@SG app, and the haze microsite (www.haze.gov.sg).

REVIEW (1 – 15 March 2020)

5         Northeast Monson conditions prevailed in the first fortnight of March 2020. During the period, most of Southeast Asia including Singapore experienced dry and warm conditions except for areas south of the Equator. The low-level winds over Singapore and the surrounding region blew from the northwest or northeast.

6          It was warm on most days in the first fortnight of March 2020. During the period, the daily maximum temperature recorded on all days, except on 5 and 6 March 2020, was at least 34°C. The temperature reached sweltering highs of above 35°C on five days, with the highest daily maximum temperature of 36.3°C recorded at Paya Lebar on 13 March 2020.

7          While the first fortnight of the month was mostly warm and dry, there were also several days of thundery showers that brought a welcome relief from the warm and humid weather. The showers were heaviest on the afternoon of 5 March 2020. These were induced by strong solar heating of land areas coupled with localised wind convergence. The daily rainfall total recorded that day was 76.4mm at Tuas, which is the highest recorded for the first fortnight of March 2020.

8          Most parts of the island received below-average rainfall in the first half of March 2020. The rainfall recorded at Sentosa was 75% below average while that recorded at Ulu Pandan was 15% above average.

CLIMATE STATION STATISTICS

Long-term Statistics for March
(Climatological reference period: 1981 – 2010)

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