Warm, wet days for first half of May

SINGAPORE — Get prepared for warm and wet days these next two weeks.

In its fortnightly forecast released yesterday (April 30), the National Environment Agency (NEA) said there will be light winds that are variable in direction for the first half of this month.

On four or five days, brief thundery showers in the afternoon can be expected, while prolonged, heavy rain could happen on two or three mornings.

The NEA also forecast that “slightly hazy conditions” can be expected on a few days, especially in the early morning, “due to accumulation of particulate matter under light wind conditions”.

It added that rainfall for the whole month is “likely to be near-normal”.

Based on long-term statistics, May is Singapore’s second-warmest month in the year, after April.

In the first half of last month, two-thirds of Singapore received below-normal rainfall but the trend was reversed in the past two weeks, which were characterised by searing days with temperatures hovering around 34°C or thundery showers.

In its review of April, the NEA said most days saw wet weather conditions, with rain falling mostly in the afternoons. In particular, last Tuesday saw many areas of the island inundated with moderate to heavy thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening.

The NEA said this was due to the “convergence of winds and strong daytime heating of land areas”. The heaviest rainfall that day was recorded over the Mandai area.

Overall, around two-thirds of Singapore saw higher-than-normal rainfall last month.

The central part of the island, around Ang Mo Kio and Lower Peirce Reservoir, recorded the highest rainfall. Ang Mo Kio had 267mm of rain last month, which was 55 per cent above average. For the Lower Peirce Reservoir area, there was 324mm of rain, 80 per cent higher than the average.

In contrast, the east was drier than usual. The 67mm to 91mm rainfall in the region around Pasir Ris and Simei was 45 per cent to 70 per cent below the average.