More wet and warm weather expected in last two weeks of April

More wet and warm weather expected in last two weeks of April

The weather here is set to continue to be wet and warm in the next two weeks, said the Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS) on Tuesday (April 16).

The prevailing inter-monsoon conditions in Singapore and the surrounding region are also expected to persist through May.

During the inter-monsoon period, low-level winds are generally light and variable in direction, said the MSS.

Strong solar heating of land areas also occur more frequently during this period.

Coupled with the convergence of winds over Singapore and the surrounding vicinity, the two factors lead to brief thundery showers with high lightning activity, usually in the afternoon.

In the second half of April, moderate to heavy short thundery showers are expected between the late morning and afternoon on six to eight days.

On one to two days, Sumatra squalls could bring widespread thundery showers and gusty winds in the morning.

The rainfall for April is expected to be near normal levels, said the MSS.

More rainy days are expected in the next two weeks as compared to the last two weeks of March.

The next two weeks are also expected to be warm, with the daily temperature on most days forecast to range between 25 deg C and 34 deg C, similar to what was experienced during the first two weeks of the month.

On a few afternoons, the daily maximum temperature could reach 35 deg C.

During the first half of April, light winds and strong solar heating of land areas led to thunderstorm clouds forming on most days. Intense, short thundery showers fell over many areas in the afternoon on some days.

Last Wednesday, thundery showers over the Tai Seng area in the late afternoon recorded 71.4mm of rain, the highest total rainfall in a day for the first two weeks of April.

On a few days in early April, the winds blew from the south-west or west, and Sumatra squalls moved over Singapore in the pre-dawn hours and early morning, bringing widespread thundery showers and gusty winds over many areas of the island.

A wind gust of 75.6kmh in Pasir Panjang during a passing squall on April 3 was the highest recorded wind gust for this month so far, said the MSS.

Despite the wet weather, there were several days with very warm weather in the first half of April. The highest daily maximum temperature recorded was 36 deg C in Admiralty on April 7.

On most days, the daily temperature ranged between 24 deg C and 34 deg C.

More than two-thirds of the island received below-normal rainfall in the first fortnight of April.

The Fortnightly Weather Outlook, a Web video series on the National Environment Agency's YouTube channel, is available for those interested to learn more about the weather conditions Singapore is experiencing.

~News courtesy of Straits Times~