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Expect wet and wild end to the year: NEA
By Angela Lim – November 10th, 2010
The National Environment Agency has warned Singaporeans to expect a wet and rainy end to the year.
This is due to the combination of the annual north-east monsoon and the La Nina weather phenomenon which happens every few years, according to NEA’s meteorological services division.
Singapore can expect short and moderate to heavy showers with thunder in the afternoons and early evenings, on five to seven days within the next fortnight.
According to the NEA, rainfall over the month is expected to be “average to slightly above average”, with next month “as wet, if not wetter than November”.
It also warned prolonged rainy spells lasting two to five days at a time could occur from December to January.
Flooding due to these wet spells cannot be ruled out, an NEA spokesman said, adding that floods depend on other factors like high tides and rain location.
In December 2006, such rainy spells caused floods in Thompson Road, where nurseries and flower ships were indundated.
The La Nina phenonmenon, where surface temperatures of the central and eastern Pacific Ocean cool off, also plays a role as it tends to deliver rain to the region. This year, the effects are moderately strong and dry weather is only expected to return in the first quarter of next year.
While flash floods cannot be ruled out, the agency said the year-end conditions are different from those of the floods that wreaked havoc in July, which caused millions of dollars’ worth of damage to Orchard Road.
In July, unseasonably heavy rain and fallout from the Typhoon Conson over the Philippines and South China hit Singapore.
This time, however, national water agency PUB says it is not taking any chances: It is beefing up flood protection at the Orchard Road shopping district by raising the level of low-lying sections, starting this month.
It is also sending out flood advisories to the residents of 71 flood hot spots like Fort Road and Mountbatten Road in Katong. and has stepped up inspections at construction sites and flood-prone areas to check for blocked drains.
By Angela Lim – November 10th, 2010
The National Environment Agency has warned Singaporeans to expect a wet and rainy end to the year.
This is due to the combination of the annual north-east monsoon and the La Nina weather phenomenon which happens every few years, according to NEA’s meteorological services division.
Singapore can expect short and moderate to heavy showers with thunder in the afternoons and early evenings, on five to seven days within the next fortnight.
According to the NEA, rainfall over the month is expected to be “average to slightly above average”, with next month “as wet, if not wetter than November”.
It also warned prolonged rainy spells lasting two to five days at a time could occur from December to January.
Flooding due to these wet spells cannot be ruled out, an NEA spokesman said, adding that floods depend on other factors like high tides and rain location.
In December 2006, such rainy spells caused floods in Thompson Road, where nurseries and flower ships were indundated.
The La Nina phenonmenon, where surface temperatures of the central and eastern Pacific Ocean cool off, also plays a role as it tends to deliver rain to the region. This year, the effects are moderately strong and dry weather is only expected to return in the first quarter of next year.
While flash floods cannot be ruled out, the agency said the year-end conditions are different from those of the floods that wreaked havoc in July, which caused millions of dollars’ worth of damage to Orchard Road.
In July, unseasonably heavy rain and fallout from the Typhoon Conson over the Philippines and South China hit Singapore.
This time, however, national water agency PUB says it is not taking any chances: It is beefing up flood protection at the Orchard Road shopping district by raising the level of low-lying sections, starting this month.
It is also sending out flood advisories to the residents of 71 flood hot spots like Fort Road and Mountbatten Road in Katong. and has stepped up inspections at construction sites and flood-prone areas to check for blocked drains.
