Singapore experiences driest month since 1869

The prolonged dry weather affecting Singapore since mid-January has set a new record for the driest month since 1869. During February, there were only seven days of short showers that occurred between February 7 and 19, mainly in the western parts of Singapore. Local TV Channel NewsAsia reported that the total rainfall across 64 rainfall stations ranged from 45 percent to 100 percent below the long-term average of 161.0 mm for February -- about half of the stations, mostly in the southern and eastern areas, recorded total monthly rainfall below 10.0 mm. Besides being the driest month ever, February was also the most windy month in the last 30 years. An average daily wind speed of 13.3 km/h was recorded in February. The prolonged dry conditions have also set a new record for the lowest average daily relative humidity of 74.5 percent. The previous record low for February and any month of the year was 76. 9 percent in February 1968, and 74.6 percent in June 2013 respectively. Singapore National Environment Agency (NEA) said the last day of significant rainfall was on February 16, when between 0.2 and 29.0 mm was recorded in various parts of the island. Since then, there has been little or no rainfall, with Singapore entering another dry spell on February 17. This follows the 27-day long dry spell between January 13 and February 8, 2014.