Saturday, May 13, 2023, was the second day in a row that the mercury hit record highs. - ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH
SINGAPORE, May 13 (The Straits Times/ANN): Temperatures hit a record high of 37 deg C in Ang Mo Kio on Saturday, the highest in 40 years.
It is also the highest recorded temperature for the month of May, and the hottest day in 2023.
It ties with the all-time record of 37 deg C for highest daily maximum temperature in Singapore, last recorded in Tengah on April 17, 1983.
In a Facebook post on Saturday, the National Environment Agency said the previous high for the month of May was 36.7 deg C, recorded in Admiralty in 2022.
The weatherman added that temperatures breached the 36 deg C mark in several parts of the island on Saturday.
NEA said the warm and dry conditions are expected to continue on Sunday, but short-duration showers are expected next week, which may help to ease the warm temperatures.
Saturday was the second day in a row that the mercury hit record highs. On Friday, Singapore registered a high of 36.2 deg C in Choa Chu Kang.
The year’s previous high was recorded on April 14, when temperatures hit 36.1 deg C in Woodlands.
Singapore’s temperature records started in 1929.
The Meteorological Service Singapore had earlier forecast that the warm and humid weather experienced in April was expected to continue into the first half of May.
In a statement on May 2, it said: “May is normally one of the warmest months of the year. The first half of May is forecast to be warm and humid, with daily maximum temperatures reaching 34 deg C on most afternoons.
“On a few days when there is less cloud cover, the daily maximum temperature could reach a high of around 35 deg C.”
NEA in April debunked claims circulating via text messages that Singapore was about to face a severe heatwave with temperatures rising to between 40 deg C and 50 deg C.
“It is unlikely for the temperature in Singapore to reach a high of 40 deg C in the coming weeks,” it said. - The Straits Times/ANN
