Showers in west bring respite to S’pore

SINGAPORE — Rain in the western parts of Singapore yesterday afternoon provided some respite from the unrelenting dry weather that the Republic has been experiencing in recent months.

The Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS) reported that brief showers fell over Tuas, Jurong West and Chua Chu Kang between 4.45pm and 5.30pm. At Tuas, between 0.2mm and 15.2mm of rainfall was recorded.

“The showers were due to local wind convergence over the south-western areas,” said an MSS spokesperson.

The Land Transport Authority had tweeted around 5pm that there was a flash flood on the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) near the Ayer Rajah Expressway exit, but later clarified in response to media queries that it had observed some water collecting on the PIE, which cleared within minutes, and that the road remained passable to traffic. Singapore has been experiencing unusually dry weather since the start of the year, with a recent dry spell of 27 days over two months, beating the previous record of 18 days set in 2008.

The MSS spokesperson said: “The current dry weather conditions are expected to persist in the first half of March. For the next few days, mainly fair and warm conditions are expected.”