Wet, windy new year
Singapore welcomed a wet and windy start to 2021, with moderate to heavy showers around the island throughout New Year’s Day.
Temperatures fell below 22 deg C in parts of Singapore owing to prolonged rain that began yesterday morning.
Cool weather was felt in several locations on the island, with temperatures dropping to 21.2 deg C in Bukit Timah and Newton, and 21.4 deg C in Admiralty.
Heavy rain over parts of the island also sparked warnings of potential flash floods at five locations yesterday afternoon.
National water agency PUB said in a Facebook post at around 12.55pm yesterday that the public should avoid Jalan Seaview and Mountbatten Road for the next hour as water levels in drains and canals in these areas had reached 90 per cent.
In an update, PUB added Siang Kuang Avenue and Langsat Road / Lorong 105 Changi at around 1.40pm to the list, and West Coast Road at 1.58pm.
The showers also led to several vehicles being stranded in Pasir Ris Farmway. Videos circulating on social media yesterday showed a Renault Megane stuck in ankle-high water. Three Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officers were seen pushing the vehicle.
Responding to queries from The Straits Times, SCDF said it received a call for assistance near the junction of Pasir Ris Farmway 3 and Lorong Halus at about 2.30pm.
Four vehicles were removed from the affected area by SCDF officers. There were no reported injuries, it added.
The cool and windy conditions are set to persist, according to a weather advisory by the Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS) on Thursday.
The first week of the year is forecast to be cool and windy, with periods of moderate to heavy showers over Singapore.
The wet weather is expected with the strengthening of a high-pressure system over northern Asia, which will bring about a surge of strong north-easterly winds over the South China Sea.
Overall, rainfall for the first half of this month is forecast to be above average over most parts of the island, said the MSS.
Moderate thundery showers can be expected in the afternoon on most days over the fortnight owing to strong solar heating of land areas. These could extend into the evening on a few days.
Heavy and widespread thundery showers over the island will also occur on a couple of days.
Daily temperatures are looking to be relatively low, with the MSS forecasting an average of 23 deg C to 33 deg C over the fortnight, dipping to about 22 deg C on some days.
However, the daily maximum temperature may still hit as high as 34 deg C on one or two days.
Last month saw similarly cool and rainy weather.
Most parts of the island recorded near average rainfall last month, except for a few parts of western Singapore. The Choa Chu Kang area recorded rainfall that was 39 per cent below average.
The average daily temperature last month was between 22.2 deg C and 35.1 deg C.
The highest recorded temperature in the month was 35.1 deg C on Christmas Day in Admiralty, and the lowest was recorded three days later, at 22.2 deg C in Sembawang on Monday.
While it rained over the island on most days of the month, the mean monthly temperature of 27.2 deg C for December at the Changi climate station was 0.8 deg C higher than the month’s long-term average, said the MSS.