SINGAPORE - The weatherman has forecast widespread thundery showers during the next week.

In the early part of the coming fortnight into May, the convergence of prevailing winds from the south-west or west may lead to the development of Sumatra squalls over the Strait of Malacca, said the Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS).

This is a line of thunderstorms which originate over the Indonesian island of Sumatra or the Malacca Strait, and typically move eastward towards Singapore and the surrounding region under the influence of south-westerly or westerly winds.

MSS said: "As the squalls move eastwards towards the South China Sea, they may bring widespread thundery showers and gusty winds over Singapore during the pre-dawn hours and morning on a few days."

Short duration moderate to heavy thundery showers with frequent lightning are expected over parts of the island in the afternoon on most days.

On a few of these days, the thundery showers may be intense and could extend into the early evening.

Despite the rain, warm weather can still be expected for the rest of April.

The daily maximum temperature is expected to be around 34 deg C on most days.

On one or two rainy days, the daily minimum temperature may drop to a low of around 23 deg C.

Overall, the rainfall for April is still expected to be below average over most parts of Singapore.

This is because rainfall was still well below average over many parts of Singapore in the first half of April.

While the rainfall recorded in Punggol was 22 per cent above average, the rainfall in Jurong West was 87 per cent below average.

Also, there were five days in the first fortnight of April when the daily maximum temperature reached 34 deg C or more.

In particular, the daily maximum temperature soared to 36.8 deg C and 35.4 deg C at Admiralty and Ang Mo Kio respectively

The lowest minimum temperature was 22.2 deg C recorded in Admiralty on April 9.