NEA Responds to Claims That S’pore Might Experience 50°C Days Due to the Asia Heatwave

Last Updated on 2023-05-05 , 11:19 am

If there’s one thing that feels everpresent in Singapore, it’s definitely the heat.

From sweating buckets to feeling like you’re going to melt any second, there’s no doubt that most of us can often feel ourselves burning up these days.

In fact, there’s even been a viral message going around WhatsApp saying that Singapore will experience a heat wave soon that you might have received.

The message, which has been circulated on the messaging service over the past few days, wrote that temperatures of up to 50°C should be expected and that “cold water or ice” should be avoided.

Which sounds totally believable, but hey, the weather has been feeling hotter these days for sure.

And just yesterday (28 April), the National Environmental Agency (NEA) came forth on both its Facebook and Telegram accounts to confirm that this message is actually…

False.

So yes, while it might feel hot, you can’t blame your air-con bill next month on a “heat wave”.

The Message

And for those who haven’t seen the message yet, here’s what it was all about.

The message began by encouraging Singaporeans to “Get ready for the heat wave” and anticipate temperatures of 40°C to 50°C.

The next paragraph pointed out that the heat wave is also happening in Malaysia and Indonesia.

Apart from that, the message came with a list of “advice”, and yes, the quotation marks were intentional.

Firstly, the message advised Singaporeans not to drink “very cold water”, especially when tired, as one’s “small blood vessels may burst or explode”.

It even said that drinking cold water during hot days can lead to a stroke.

Well, I must say that I haven’t had a blood vessel burst or explode (or a stroke) from drinking Slurpee on a sweltering hot day.

The message added that we should “warm up” after returning home from a hot day, which honestly sounds even worse than enduring the heat outside the house.

And it seems like even everyone’s favourite way of cooling down, cold showers, are apparently out of the question.

“Do not wash your hands or feet immediately, and do not wash wet areas exposed to the sun. Take at least 30 minutes or half an hour before washing or showering,” the message wrote.

The message then claimed that someone who “immediately took a shower” after cooling down from the heat had a stroke.

Ah, yes. Trying to choose between a “potential stroke” and sitting in my own lukewarm, smelly sweat is going to be the hardest decision of my life from now onwards.

Heat Wave Not Going to Happen, But Weather is Going to Get Hotter

And here’s what NEA has to say about the text message.

Yesterday (28 April) evening, NEA uploaded a post onto its Facebook page.

It also uploaded the same message to its Telegram channel.

And here’s the good news: The message isn’t true, meaning that there isn’t going to be a heat wave with temperatures of up to 50°C.

“We understand that there is a text message circulating on a possible incoming heatwave between 40 and 50 degrees Celsius for Singapore.

“It is unlikely for the temperature in Singapore to reach a high of 40 degrees Celsius in the coming weeks,” NEA clarified.

However, here’s the bad news:

Expect hot days ahead as we continue to go through the “inter-monsoon” period, which is usually regarded as the “warmer period of the year”.

According to NEA, the inter-monsoon period, which falls during April and May, features “strong solar heating and light and variable wind conditions”, which is why it’s been so hot.

In fact, NEA also stated that over half of April has had daily maximum temperatures of over 34°C, with eight of those days having daily maximum temperatures of more than 35°C.

And it seems like we’ll still be experiencing temperatures in “the coming weeks”, with the daily maximum temperatures expected to chart at around 34 to 35°C “in the afternoon on most days”.

Temperatures may even rise to around 36°C if we experience less cloud cover on some days.

“The highest daily maximum temperature was 36.1 degrees Celsius at Woodlands on 14 [April] 2023. This is the highest temperature recorded so far this year,” NEA noted.

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Still Not the Highest Temperature We’ve Experienced

But if it’s of any consolation, this year’s definitely not the hottest year we’ve ever experienced.

“Although we have been experiencing warmer days in recent weeks, the temperatures were not [record-breaking]. The highest temperature ever recorded in Singapore was 37 degrees Celsius on 17 [April] 1983,” NEA mentioned.