Monthly Archives: March 2016

2015 was the warmest and second driest year on record

 

Singapore, 22 March 2016 –The Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS) has today released its inaugural Annual Climate Assessment Report and launched its weather mobile application, ‘Weather@SG’, both in conjunction with World Meteorological Day (WMD) 2016. WMD is annually observed around the world on 23 March, and this year, the theme for WMD 2016 is “Hotter, drier, wetter. Face the Future” to illustrate the reality of climate change and to highlight that, without urgent action to cut emissions, the trend of increasing temperatures and the frequency and intensity of extreme events will accelerate.

 

Annual Climate Assessment Report 2015

2          MSS’ Annual Climate Assessment Report will be an annual publication available online at MSS’ website at https://www.weather.gov.sg, and serves to provide relevant and useful weather and climate information, and a perspective of the current climate of Singapore with that of historical records. The 2015 report provides details of the climate trends for Singapore, including climatic features and notable weather events that affected Singapore in 2015.

 

2015 as warmest year on record

3          When the world experienced its hottest year in 2015[1], Singapore similarly recorded one of its warmest years in history. 2015, together with 1997 and 1998 saw annual mean temperatures of 28.3 degrees Celsius, exceeding the climatological average by 0.8 degrees Celsius. In fact, eight of Singapore’s 10 warmest years have occurred in the current 21^st century. In years to come, there are indications of the daily mean temperatures increasing further, and the climatologically drier periods becoming drier and the wetter periods becoming wetter. Refer to Annex A for the table of 10 warmest years based on records at MSS’ climate station.

 

4          In 2015 Singapore also saw warmer than normal monthly temperatures for all months except February. New monthly records were set last year with the warmest months being July, October, November and December, the highest since Singapore’s temperature records began in 1929.

 

5          The warming trend in Singapore has been observed over a number of decades. The average rise of 0.25 degrees Celcius per decade from 1948 to 2015 is higher than the global warming rate of 0.12 degrees Celcius for a similar period (1951 – 2012). This trend is observed to be accompanied by an increase in the number of warm days (days with temperature above 34.1 degrees Celcius) and warm nights in Singapore, occurring against a background of year-to-year climate variability, mostly associated with El Niño and La Niña events.

 

2015 as second driest year on record

6          With only 1,266.8mm of rainfall recorded last year, 2015 was the second driest year,  with 1997 being the driest year. The drier weather in the second half of 2015 was exacerbated by the prevailing El Niño, which in turn contributed to one of the longest and most severe transboundary haze events experienced in Singapore. Refer to Annex A for the table of 10 driest years based on records at MSS’ climate station.

 

El Niño Outlook for 2016

7          The prevailing strong El Niño, which developed in mid-2015 and peaked in December 2015, is gradually weakening, and is forecast to weaken further as it transitions to neutral (neither El Niño nor La Niña) conditions around mid-2016. Latest projections from major international climate centres indicate that there is equal likelihood for neutral conditions to perisist or for La Niña to develop in the later part of 2016. Over the next one or two months, warmer conditions can still be expected with the mean monthly temperatures likely to be significantly higher than their respective long-term averages. More warm days with daily maximum temperatures between 33 and 35 degrees Celsius can be expected.

 

Weather@SG Weather Application

 8          With indications that hotter, drier and wetter weather conditions could become more frequent in Singapore, timely weather information will become increasingly important. To facilitate a convenient means to check Singapore’s official weather forecasts and observations wherever you are, MSS has also launched its free weather mobile application, ‘Weather@SG’ today. The ‘Weather@SG’ mobile application can be downloaded from both the Apple App Store and the Android Play Store.

9          The ‘Weather@SG’ mobile application provides users with access to the latest national forecasts, observations as well as warnings and advisories. Through the ‘Weather@SG’ application, mobile phone users can receive push notifications of heavy rain warnings and other hazards. The weather mobile application has features to detect a user’s location and automatically display the 2-hour Nowcast and the current weather conditions such as temperature, rain amount and wind information. In addition, graphical temperature and rainfall trends for the past 12 hours are available. Users will also be able to view the rain areas over the island and up to 240km away.  Please refer to Annex B for screenshots of the ‘Weather@SG’ mobile application.

 

[1] As per media release issued by World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) Media Centre on 25 January 2016 (https://www.wmo.int/media/content/2015-hottest-year-record)

 

– End –

ANNEX A

 

Table of Records for the Top 10 Warmest and Driest Years in Singapore

 

The table below details the top 10 warmest annual mean temperatures as well as top 10 driest years for Singapore. The climatological (1981-2010) average for Singapore is 27.5⁰C for annual mean temperature and 2165.9 mm for annual rainfall.

 

<tdstyle=”width: 198px;”>27.919711613.5

Top 10 Warmest Year		Top 10 Driest Years
Year	Annual Mean Temp (0C)	Year	Annual Rainfall (mm)
2015	28.3	1997	1118.9
1998	28.3	2015	1266.8
1997	28.3	1985	1483.9
2010	28.1	1990	1523.8
2002	28.1	2014	1538.4
2005	28.0	1981	1555.8
2014	27.9	1960	1569.6
2009	27.9	1888	1605.0
2004
2003	27.8	1877	1654.0

Table 1: Top 10 Warmest and Driest years on record (based on climate station)

 

ANNEX B

 

Screen Shots of ‘Weather@SG’ Mobile Application

 

The screen shots below highglights some of the key feature of the Weather@SG’ Mobile Application.

 

Receive warnings of heavy rain and other hazards	Get the 2-hour nowcast and latest observations of your current and favourite locations
Access current rain areas	Get the weather forecast for the next 24 hours, and see what’s in store for the next few days

 

 

 

 

[1] As per media release issued by World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) Media Centre on 25 January 2016 (https://www.wmo.int/media/content/2015-hottest-year-record)

Afternoon thundery showers on some days

Advisory

Singapore, 1 March 2016 – Northeast Monsoon conditions are forecast to persist in March 2016 with low level winds blowing predominantly from the north or northeast.

2. In the first fortnight of March 2016, dry and occasionally windy conditions are expected to prevail on most days. Localised short-duration thundery showers are expected mostly in the afternoon on some days around the middle of the fortnight period. The showers may be heavy at times on days when there is convergence of winds coupled with strong solar heating of land areas. Rainfall for the first half of March 2016 is expected to be near-normal.

3. The dry weather experienced in the past week is expected to extend into the first two weeks of March 2016. The temperature during this period is expected to range between 24°C and 33°C on most days. On some days, warmer temperatures can be expected with the daily maximum temperature reaching as high as 34°C.

Review (1 – 29 February 2016)

4. Northeast Monsoon conditions continued to prevail over the region in February 2016. The low level winds in Singapore during the month blew predominantly from the northeast.

5. In the second week of February 2016, Singapore experienced occasionally windy and cool weather conditions where the lowest daily minimum temperature recorded was between 21.5°C and 22.5°C due to a monsoon surge that affected the region during the period. The monsoon surge brought moderate to occasionally heavy rainfall to Singapore where the total daily rainfall of 96.8mm over the Queenstown area was the highest daily rainfall recorded for February 2016.

6. In addition, Singapore experienced short-duration thundery showers mainly in the afternoon and evening on some days due to strong solar heating of land areas coupled with localised wind convergence. Dry and occasionally windy conditions were experienced in the last week of February 2016.

7. Rainfall across Singapore was above average in February 2016. The highest rainfall of 186mm (68% above average) was recorded over the eastern part of Singapore around Changi. Rainfall was lowest over the northeastern part of the island around Seletar, where 178mm (11% above average) was recorded.

8. Singapore experienced warm conditions on most days in February 2016. The highest daily maximum temperature recorded ranged between 33.8 and 34.2°C. The mean monthly temperature of 27.8°C for February 2016 is 0.7°C warmer than the long-term mean of 27.1°C for February, and ranks February 2016 as the fourth warmest February since 1929.

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

Mean daily maximum temperature	32.0 degrees Celsius
Mean daily minimum temperature	24.6 degrees Celsius
Mean monthly temperature	27.5 degrees Celsius
Mean rainfall for the month	170.3 mm
Mean number of rain days	13
Highest monthly mean daily maximum temperature	34.1 degrees Celsius (1998)
Lowest monthly mean daily minimum temperature	23.7 degrees Celsius (1982)
Highest monthly rainfall	361.3 mm (1984)
Lowest monthly rainfall	34.3 mm (1997)