Warmer Weather Expected In April, With Frequent Lightning Activity On Most Days
After uncharacteristically rainy and wet weather in the earlier part of the year, Singapore’s climate is getting back to normal, for better or for worse.
As April comes along, warmer weather is expected in the first half of the month.
Source: @jleonnn on Unsplash
That, together with less rainfall in the second week, means Singapore residents will finally be able to bask in the sunlight.
Inter-monsoon conditions to bring warmer weather in April
In a weather advisory on Friday (31 Mar), the Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS) said the current Northeast Monsoon conditions, which have prevailed since December 2022, will come to an end in April.
They will make way for inter-monsoon conditions, which will last till May.
During inter-monsoon conditions, warm weather is par for the course.
However, that doesn’t mean it won’t rain — when it does, the thunderstorms may sometimes be heavy.
Lightning activity tends to be higher
Those who’re afraid of lightning should note that lightning activity tends to be higher during the inter-monsoon period, compared with other times of the year.
Hence, frequent lightning can be expected over parts of Singapore in the afternoon on most days in the first half of April.
Source: Jonathan Ho on Facebook
This will be accompanied by moderate to heavy thundery showers, MSS said.
The thundery showers may extend into the early evening on a few days, particularly due to the strong convergence of winds in the surrounding vicinity.
These showers will be caused by the monsoon rain band, which will lie close to equatorial Southeast Asia.
Thundery showers on a few mornings too
While the wet weather will usually occur in the afternoon, some mornings will also see rainfall.
Widespread moderate to heavy thundery showers, with occasional gusty winds, will be experienced in the pre-dawn hours or mornings on a few days, said the MSS.
These are due to the Sumatra squalls set to develop in the Strait of Malacca.
Less rainfall in 2nd week contributes to April’s warmer weather
Despite these showers, rainfall for the first two weeks of April should be near average for most of Singapore, MSS said.
This is especially during the second week of the month when less rain will fall compared to the first week.
Source: Kirill Petropavlov on Unsplash
The low-level winds over the region will also become variable in direction on most days.
On some days, easterly winds will prevail due to a brief intensification of high-pressure systems over the Western Pacific Ocean.
Temperature could hit high of 35°C
Though we can expect wet weather, the temperature will still be scorching hot as usual.
This is Singapore after all, and we’ll still be subjected to the usual daily temperature range of 24-34°C on most days.
On some days, the temperature could even hit a high of 35°C.
However, the Sumatra squalls may bring some relief, with cooler daily temperatures of 23-32°C on some days.
Monsoon surge caused wet start to March
March got off to a wet start, with a monsoon surge in the first few days of the month.
Notably, a daily total rainfall of 104.4mm was recorded in Sengkang on 1 Mar, and widespread moderate to heavy rain over Singapore on 3-4 Mar.
However, the second week brought a few dry and warm days.
In general, there was above-average rainfall across the month, with the highest daily total rainfall of 117.4 mm having fallen around the Henderson area on 30 Mar.
Source: MSS
Due to the monsoon surges in the first week of March, Singaporeans also enjoyed three days of below-28°C maximum temperatures.
The highest daily temperature was just 26.1°C at East Coast Parkway from 3-4 Mar, while Newton recorded the lowest daily minimum temperature for the month.
On 1 Mar, the temperature there plunged to 21.1°C.
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Featured image adapted from @mikeenerio on Unsplash.
