It has been exceptionally colder than usual in Singapore since Jan. 11, 2018.

With the rain not letting up, exceptionally strong winds and storms uprooted a tree and a lamp post in a Queenstown carpark, mercilessly murdering two parked cars:

Okay, you get the idea.

So even though our temperatures haven't hit our all-time low of 19.0°C (that was in Paya Lebar in 1989), they've been fluctuating between 21°C and 24°C.

Therefore, it's all anyone can talk about on this sunny island set in the sea.

But of course, plenty of people overseas are laughing at us. Even the U.K.'s ambassador to Singapore, for goodness' sake:

Very #Singapore problems pic.twitter.com/7hsIKBltOH

— Scott Wightman (@Scott_Wightman1) January 11, 2018

But we digress.

[related_story]

One Reddit forum user has stepped forward with a convincing explanation that could justify our current cold weather.

In summary, u/visss9 made the following points to explain why criticism of Singaporeans "overreacting" or being overly "dramatic" is unwarranted:

Wind chill makes our temperature feel lower than what it is

And it's cold, for our standards.

"... a temperature of 22 degrees C and an average wind speed of 25km/h (tomorrow's forecast) gives us a wind chill index of 18 degrees C. That means that even if the mercury reading is 22, the 'real feel' index is 18 degrees C. That's four degrees cooler than 22 degrees. Inputting a temperature of 22 degrees C and a wind speed of 35km/h (tomorrow's maximum wind speed forecast) makes the 'real feel' index dip to 17 degrees C. That's five degrees cooler than the temperature on display.

Make no mistake: That IS cold, for Singapore standards."

And you know what, our standards do matter because

A temperature of 22°C is vastly different here from how it would be in temperate countries

So while foreigners or Singaporeans living abroad may be all like, "Oh that's a high temperature in summer, hahaha you idiots", the truth is, it's different there, where the air is vastly drier, and the sun *does* come out to provide warmth.

"The sun counteracts the effect of wind chill, if any, but we've had nothing but an overcast sky and UV indices of 0 over the last week. No sun, no sources of warmth. This, combined with the wet weather and our year-round humidity, just serves as a snowball effect of sorts. If our 'real feel' index is 18, this can really make it feel like 16, or even colder. Remember: "Cold air with high relative humidity "feels" colder than dry air of the same temperature, because high humidity in cold weather increases the conduction of heat from the body."

Add these to the fact that:

We simply aren't used to dressing for cold weather

We tell ourselves, "Yeah, it's so much colder in other countries — it's 20-something here, how bad can it be?" and then head out in our default T-shirt, berms/shorts and flip flops.

Unfortunately, our go-to attire to counter excessive humidity and perspiration on a hot, sunny day just ain't gonna cut it in our current climate. Europeans, for instance, are experts at layering up, and you know what — we're just too dang lazy to do so.

So, of course, we end up feeling cold.

Add that to the fact that our homes are built to take heat and humidity, and to be as conducive to air flow as possible. We have sliding, swing-open windows, air-conditioning and fans, not heaters and double-glazed or insulated windows.

Here's u/visss9's post in full:

Here are some sympathetic and understanding reactions to it:

"When I lived in Norway, I used to walk around in a t shirt and jeans at around the -10c range, maybe a sweater at most. Of course i was 13 then and well it wasn't that far to school.

Now that I'm in my thirties, at 20c in Singapore I'm freezing my bum off."

"Im from Korea. I went thru winter every year. I moved into Singapore few years ago. I feel very cold now."

"As an American who withstood -30 degree weather for the past two weeks, I never thought about Singaporeans' lack of knowledge of layering. That does explain why my Singaporean friends were freezing when it was 15 degrees and cloudy."

The text of the post was reproduced by blogfather mrbrown as well, so you can read it in full below:

Interestingly, one of the comments raised another interesting and very relevant point -- the fact that the flooring in many Singaporean homes is cool, and few homes have carpets, simply because it's usually really hot so it doesn't make sense:

So yes, there you have it. If anyone laughs at you for saying it's cold, you can wave this article (more importantly, these pretty darn valid points) in their faces.

Because everyone's talking about the weather now:

S’pore sunnier on air-con Sunday, but folks in Admiralty & Jurong West still got the chills

Revisiting the times Singapore’s weather phenomena made us go ‘Wah’!

Fallen tree in Queenstown took out lamp post & damaged a BMW & Nissan parked nearby

Brace yourself, S'pore will be cold & wet on Sat & Sun, Jan. 13 & 14

S’pore officially freezing, hits 21.9°C on Thursday, Jan. 11 night

Here are unrelated articles you should check out next:

An interactive canvas you can Instagram the crap out of is coming to the Light to Night Festival 2018

Free outdoor movie screenings, live gigs and loads of other things to do at SAM in the upcoming weeks

You need to get with the times, both for your bank account and your life

Here are some ways Singaporeans needlessly lose money

Top photo via Getty Images