SINGAPORE, March 23 — Singapore experienced an exceptional year of weather extremes in 2024, with record-breaking heat and unusual rainfall patterns.
The Meteorological Service Singapore’s (MSS) annual climate assessment report, which was shared with The Straits Times (ST), said the year tied with 2019 and 2016 as the hottest on record, with an annual mean temperature of 28.4°C.
It added that 2024 marked the fourth consecutive year where the 10-year average temperature reached a new high. July and December were the warmest on record, with the latter seeing temperatures soar to 36.2°C in Paya Lebar on December 7 — the highest recorded in any December.
Despite the intense heat, however, the MSS report said that total rainfall for the year stood at 2,739.8mm, exceeding the long-term average of 2,534.3mm.
It highlighted an 18-day dry spell in July, Singapore’s first since 2019, followed by an exceptionally wet November, which saw 419mm of rain — the highest for the month in over 40 years.
While global warming is driving long-term temperature increases, MSS noted to ST that the extreme rainfall events in 2024 could not be directly linked to climate change.
“Although we project more frequent extreme rainfall patterns in the long term, individual rainfall events cannot be attributed directly to climate change,” MSS said.
It also said that Singapore’s rainfall patterns are heavily influenced by large-scale climate phenomena such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation and the Madden-Julian Oscillation.
For example, November’s record rainfall was largely driven by the latter, a moving weather system that significantly increased precipitation. This led to heavy downpours which caused flash floods in areas like Yishun and Potong Pasir.
The MSS report also cited two notable storms in September and October which brought widespread disruption.
On September 17, a powerful Sumatra squall swept through the island in just 1.5 hours, bringing wind gusts of up to 83.2km/h on East Coast Parkway. More than 300 trees were felled or damaged.
Despite its intensity, the squall delivered only 10.3mm of rainfall as it moved swiftly across the island, causing temperatures to plummet from 30°C to 25°C within minutes.
Less than a month later, on October 14, an island-wide thunderstorm lasted from midnight into the afternoon, causing flash floods in multiple locations, including Tampines and Bukit Timah.