Uncommon strong winds in Singapore
SINGAPORE: One person said it has become so difficult to
play tennis, while another is putting off plans to go on a picnic.
Singapore Polytechnic has even decided, for safety reasons, to take
down two banners after one was blown away.
Some feathers have certainly been ruffled by the winds in Singapore
this week. In a country where the average wind speed is around 15
to 20 kilometres per hour, it has reached the time of the year when
that figure goes up to 30 to 40 kmh.
Yesterday and on Wednesday, when this newspaper checked the
National Environment Agency’s website, which lists a range of
forecasts such as fair, cloudy and rain, there was only one outlook
for all five districts and 45 town areas — windy.
And while strong winds are not uncommon when there are
thunderstorms, it has been "generally fair" with rainfall "below
average across the whole island", noted the NEA on its
website.
That has been good news for event coordinator Michelle Ting, 19,
who told TODAY: "I think it’s awesome. I don’t mind going out more
even though it’s sunny, as it’s not so hot." Others, though, who
prefer the sunnier side of Singapore have lamented that it’s as
cold outdoors as it is in their offices.
Temperatures have dropped to lows of 24 degrees Celsius and will
stay that way, according to the NEA’s latest three—day
outlook.
In its fortnightly outlook, which it posted yesterday, the NEA
said: "Moderate North—east Monsoon conditions should continue to
prevail with Singapore experiencing occasionally windy
conditions."
During this period, showers with thunder in the afternoon can be
expected on four to five days, while stronger north—east winds may
bring moderate to occasionally heavy rain on two to three
days.
The agency told TODAY that between December to March, stronger
winds over the South China Sea and parts of the region are caused
when "occasional surges of cold air" head this way from northern
China.
"The impact of the high pressure system is windy conditions across
the island as we have been having the past couple of days," said
the NEA.
In Thailand, the cold snap has been severe and news reports on
Wednesday said temperatures have fallen to 2 degrees Celsius in the
north, killing five people and prompting the authorities to declare
an emergency zone across half the country.
In Singapore, some say they are falling ill. "As it is sometimes
hot and sometimes cold, I had a sore throat and my daughter had
high fever," said housewife Maimunah A Hamid, 56.
But for the most part, the weather has been a light—hearted topic
of discussion. Operations assistant Haslinda Md Yasin, 33, said she
is pleased that the wind is drying her laundry faster than
usual.
Marketing executive Jasmine Yuan, meanwhile, told TODAY: "The winds
are crazy. We were walking for a bit outdoors and our hair is being
messed up... Until the winds improve, I’ll not do my hair." —
TODAY/fa
