Singapore's temperature forecast to edge up in coming days

A little boy warmly dressed while taking a ride in Bukit Batok Street 51 yesterday. The thermometer reading dipped to 21.2 deg C in Admiralty and Jurong West at around 5am yesterday morning.
A little boy warmly dressed while taking a ride in Bukit Batok Street 51 yesterday. The thermometer reading dipped to 21.2 deg C in Admiralty and Jurong West at around 5am yesterday morning. ST PHOTO: MARK CHEONG

Enjoy the cool while it lasts because the National Environment Agency (NEA) says that temperatures are unlikely to dip below 22 deg C in the coming days.

The mercury is expected to rise to between 23 deg C and 24 deg C over the next few days, the NEA said in its Facebook update yesterday afternoon.

This is after Singapore recorded one of its lowest temperatures as the thermometer reading dipped to 21.2 deg C in Admiralty and Jurong West at around 5am yesterday morning. This was slightly lower than the 21.4 deg C recorded in Jurong West last Friday.

At other locations across the island yesterday, the lowest temperatures ranged from 21.3 deg C to 22.2 deg C, NEA said.

Singapore last recorded a temperature of 21.2 deg C in 2016, but the mercury has dipped even lower before - to 20.1 deg C in 2014 and 20 deg C in 2013. The lowest temperature recorded here was 19 deg C in Paya Lebar on Feb 14, 1989.

The current cool spell in Singapore is the result of an ongoing monsoon surge over the South China Sea, where the sudden increase in wind speed brings with it cool air from the winter chill in the northern hemisphere.

NEA said that in the past few days, the highest temperature was 26.4 deg C on Jurong Island, recorded last Thursday.

SPH Brightcove Video
Used to the sweltering heat, Singaporeans are resorting to winter wear, hot drinks and even using the heater to combat the sudden dip in temperature.

Meanwhile, the highest daily total rainfall was 47mm in Loyang on Saturday. However, NEA said that the rainfall is "not considered high for a monsoon surge event".

The highest daily total rainfall from a monsoon surge in January was 134.8mm in Changi in 2013.

NEA said on its Facebook page that the current rainy weather eased yesterday morning, with the gradual weakening of the monsoon surge. The rest of yesterday was forecast to be cloudy, with occasional light rain in the afternoon.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on January 15, 2018, with the headline Singapore's temperature forecast to edge up in coming days. Subscribe