Expect wetter and cooler start to the new year

Rainy and cool weather will continue into the first few days of the new year, but the rain is likely to ease in the second week of this month.

Winds are expected to blow from the north-west or north-east due to the prevailing north-east monsoon conditions, bringing wetter and cooler weather to the region, the Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS) said yesterday.

The monsoon surge will last a few days and will likely bring strong north-easterly winds, as well as cooler weather with occasional spells of moderate to heavy thundery showers over Singapore and the surrounding region.

Singapore experiences between two and four monsoon surges each year on average, occurring mostly between December and March.

Short-duration thundery showers can still be expected in the afternoon on several days in the next two weeks, and overall, rainfall should be slightly above average over most parts of the island.

Daily temperatures should range between 23 deg C and 31 deg C on a few days early this month, and between 24 deg C and 33 deg C on most days.

Temperatures may still rise to 34 deg C on a few days.

While December is usually wetter than November, the opposite was true last year, according to MSS.

The first two weeks of last month saw relatively windy conditions with passing showers brought on by north-east monsoon conditions.

The highest total rainfall in the first half of the month, at 82.6mm, was recorded on Pulau Ubin on Dec 18, when intense thundery showers fell over many parts of the island at night.

The hottest temperature of 34.8 deg C was recorded in Tengah on Dec 1.

On Dec 2, the lowest temperature of 22.1 deg C was recorded in Jurong.

Rainfall was below average across Singapore.