Heavy rain does little to replenish dry lakes at Botanic Gardens

Remote video URL
The Botanic Gardens' Eco Lake (above) and Symphony Lake (right) remained dry yesterday despite heavy rain over the past few days. Singapore saw drier and warmer than usual conditions last month, and warm and wet conditions are expected to prevail thi
The Botanic Gardens' Eco Lake (above) and Symphony Lake remained dry yesterday despite heavy rain over the past few days. Singapore saw drier and warmer than usual conditions last month, and warm and wet conditions are expected to prevail this month. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
The Botanic Gardens' Eco Lake (above) and Symphony Lake (right) remained dry yesterday despite heavy rain over the past few days. Singapore saw drier and warmer than usual conditions last month, and warm and wet conditions are expected to prevail thi
The Botanic Gardens' Eco Lake and Symphony Lake (above) remained dry yesterday despite heavy rain over the past few days. Singapore saw drier and warmer than usual conditions last month, and warm and wet conditions are expected to prevail this month. ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI

The recent heavy rain was a welcome respite for many as the week began, but the lakes at the Botanic Gardens remained dry yesterday.

Warm and wet conditions are expected to prevail this month, the weatherman said on Monday.

The daily maximum temperature could soar to above 35 deg C on a few days, and the daily temperature is expected to range between 25 deg C and 34 deg C on most days.

"The strong daytime heating of land areas, coupled with convergence of winds over Singapore and the surrounding vicinity, is conducive to the development of thunderstorm clouds in the afternoon," the Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS) said.

Singapore saw drier and warmer than usual conditions last month, partly due to the presence of a dry air mass that extended from the Pacific Ocean to parts of South-east Asia, the MSS said.

With the monsoon rain band shifting northwards closer to Singapore and the equatorial region in the last week of last month, however, the island saw short thundery showers in the late afternoon on several days.

The past four months were also the warmest respective months in the past 90 years that were not influenced by El Nino, a global weather phenomenon associated with warmer and drier weather.

The north-east monsoon season, which started in December last year and ended last month, was the third-warmest on record, with an average temperature of 28.1 deg C.

Last month alone, the average temperature recorded at the climate station in Changi was 28.7 deg C - making it the third-warmest March in Singapore since temperature records began 90 years ago.

The two years that saw a warmer March were in 2016 and 1998, with monthly average temperatures of 29 deg C and 29.5 deg C, respectively.

Both were years in which there was a strong El Nino effect.

The MSS said more showers can be expected over Singapore and the surrounding region in the first two weeks of this month.

With the onset of inter-monsoon conditions, short thundery showers are expected on six to eight days in the first fortnight of this month. These conditions could last into the evening on a few of those days.

On two or three days during this period, the eastward passage of Sumatra squalls from Sumatra or the Strait of Malacca could also bring widespread thundery showers, accompanied by gusty winds in the morning.

Despite more rainy days in the first half of this month, though, warm conditions are expected to prevail.

A new Web video series has been launched for those keen to learn more about the weather conditions Singapore is experiencing.

Dubbed the Fortnightly Weather Outlook, the series is available on the National Environment Agency's YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/NEAsg).

Join ST's WhatsApp Channel and get the latest news and must-reads.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on April 03, 2019, with the headline Heavy rain does little to replenish dry lakes at Botanic Gardens. Subscribe