Wet Conditions Forecast in Second Half of July 2016

A few warm days can still be expected

Advisory

Singapore, 15 July 2016 –  In the second half of July 2016, the weather in Singapore will continue to be influenced by the prevailing Southwest Monsoon season, and the low level winds are forecast to blow mostly from the south-southeast or southwest.

2 Over the next two weeks, Singapore can expect six to eight days of short-duration thundery showers mostly in the late morning and afternoon. On one or two days between the predawn hours and morning, the passage of a Sumatra squall is expected to bring widespread thundery showers with occasional gusty winds to Singapore. The rainfall for July 2016 is likely to be normal.

3 While more rain days are expected in the second fortnight of July 2016 compared to the first fortnight, the daily maximum temperature could still reach a high of around 34°C on a few days. On most days, it is forecast to range between 32°C and 33°C.

REVIEW (1 – 14 July 2016)

4 Southwest Monsoon conditions prevailed in the first fortnight of July 2016 and the low level winds were blowing predominantly from the south-southeast or southwest.

5 Singapore experienced several warm days during the review period with daily maximum temperatures exceeding 35°C on 5 days. The highest daily maximum temperature of 36°C was recorded in the northern part of Singapore on 3 July 2016. On a few days of the second week of July 2016 when there was widespread rain, the daily minimum temperatures ranged between 22.3°C and 23.2°C. At the Changi climate station, the night time temperatures on most days in the first fortnight of July 2016 were above the long-term climatological July mean minimum temperature of 25°C. The warm nights were due to warm humid air over the sea being blown towards land by southeasterly winds. As at 14 July 2016, the mean temperature recorded at the Changi climate station for July 2016 was 1.4°C warmer than the long-term climatological mean monthly temperature of 27.9°C for July.

6 In the first fortnight July 2016, most of the thundery showers occurred in the morning and were mainly due to strong convergence of winds in the surrounding region as well as passage of a few Sumatra squalls. The rain was heaviest on 13 July 2016 over the Jurong area where the highest total rainfall recorded was 86mm.

7 Many parts of Singapore received below normal rainfall in the first fortnight of July 2016. Rainfall was lowest around Changi where 9.8mm (86% below average) was recorded. Above normal rainfall was recorded in the western parts of the island, with the highest rainfall of 186.6mm (103% above average) recorded around Boon Lay.

FortnightRain_Anomaly_201607a

CLIMATE STATION STATISTICS FOR JULY (Climatological reference period: 1981 – 2010)

Mean daily maximum temperature 31.3 °C
Mean daily minimum temperature 25.0 °C
Mean monthly temperature 27.9 °C
Mean rainfall for the month 154.4 mm
Mean number of rain days 14
Highest monthly mean daily maximum temperature 32.4 °C (1997)
Lowest monthlymean daily minimum temperature 23.8 °C (1981)
Highest monthly rainfall 305.4 mm (1988)
Lowest monthly rainfall 18.6 mm (1997)