The year 2019 was Singapore's third-driest year on record, since rainfall records began in 1869, a Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS) report said on Jan. 16.

Rainfall 37% below 19-year average

The Changi climate station recorded 1,368mm of rain for total annual rainfall.

This was compared to 1,267mm in 2015 and 1,119mm in 1997.

The report noted that this 1,368mm figure was 37 per cent below the long-term average rainfall from 1981 to 2010.

The driest periods of 2019 were from January to March, and from July to September, where rainfall was significantly below normal.

In particular, the period of July to September saw Singapore enter a rainfall deficit situation where the monthly rainfall for all three months was recorded as 40 per cent below normal.

A dry spell also occurred from July 31 to Aug. 16, in which less than 1mm of daily rainfall fell over Singapore during this period.

Hotter than normal for the past 23 years

Temperature-wise, the monthly average temperature of Singapore has been higher than average for the past 23 months.

The recorded annual mean temperature of 28.4°C in 2019 was 0.9°C higher than the long-term average from 1981 to 2010, placing it on par with the previous record of 28.4°C in 2016.

Additionally, 2019's August and September recorded average temperatures of 29.1°C and 29.0°C respectively, setting the record for being the warmest August and September.

Previously, the warmest Augusts were 28.9°C for August 2016 and 28.8°C for September 1997.

November 2019 also equalled the warmest temperature record of 28.0°C for that particular month.

Conditions exacerbated by an Indian Ocean Dipole

The report explained that Singapore's hot and dry conditions were exacerbated by "one of the strongest, positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) events since the 1960s".

According to the BBC, this means that the waters in the western Indian Ocean are warmer than normal, while those in the Eastern Indian Ocean are colder than normal.

Consequently, this results in higher-than-average rainfall and floods in eastern Africa, and droughts in south-east Asia and Australia.

Singapore will get hotter

And it appears that Singapore is only expected to get hotter, according to another report released by MSS on climate change back in 2015.

Under a scenario where future action is taken to control emissions, the temperature in Singapore is still expected to rise between 1.4°C to 2.7°C.

However, should it be a "business as usual" scenario, this range will be raised to between 2.9°C to 4.6°C.

Continuing on this trajectory, "unusually warm temperatures" could become the norm for Singapore in the future.

The contrast between wet and dry months is also projected to become more pronounced, especially under the "business as usual" scenario.

More rain is projected to fall during the wet season of November to January, while greater dryness is expected for months such as February, and June to September.

Notable weather events in 2019

MSS further highlighted in its 2019 report that Singapore had also seen a number of notable weather events for the past year.

These included transboundary haze and the first recorded landspout in September, as well as the longest Northeast monsoon surge in a decade in December.

The report highlighted how Singapore's air quality had been affected by smoke blown from persistent land and forest fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

Haze caused the 24-hr PSI to enter the unhealthy range on Sep. 14, and peaked at a reading of 154 on Sep. 19 in southern Singapore.

The landspout was sighted for several minutes at Gul Way on Sep. 27.

MSS stated that the landspout had been the result of an intense thunderstorm developing over Tuas, which generated a rotating column of winds over Gul Way.

Videos of the landspout showed it ripping off part of a building roof.

And in December, the windy and rainy weather experienced for the first half of the month was largely due to the longest Northeast monsoon surge seen in a decade, which lasted about seven days.

During this period, the lowest daily minimum temperature recorded was 22.0°C on Dec. 11, while the highest daily total rainfall recorded was 100.4mm on Dec. 9 at Pulau Ubin.

Top photo by Dhruv Deshmukh via Unsplash

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