More Rain Expected for the Rest of May 2023 but Some Nights Will Still Be Warm

The sweltering heat these days has been too much for all of us to handle. It’s still warm even when you turn on the fan, and installing aircon in every room of the house is a costly but good idea.

But hey, at least the skies were blue. Up until about this week.

You’ve probably already noticed that the weather has gotten slightly milder this week as we enter the second half of May. There have been rain showers and cloudy skies the past few days.

The good news is, while the highest temperatures of each day are going to be high, there will be more rain for the rest of this month.

So get your umbrellas and raincoats ready—no winter coat, though, unfortunately, the weather won’t be dipping that low.

Forecast for Second Half of May

According to Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS) on Tuesday (16 May), more rain showers are expected during the second half of May than during the first half.

This would ease the painfully warm weather that we’ve been experiencing over the past two weeks.

As we are currently in the inter-monsoon season, the conditions will likely continue throughout this month with low-level winds.

We may no longer wake up with warm sunlight shining on our faces every day as widespread thundery showers with gusty winds are expected to occur before dawn or in the morning for the next half of May.

In the afternoons and evenings, short-duration showers may occur.

Overall, we are expected to experience near-to-above-average rainfall for the next two weeks, a blessing to many of us who have been praying hard for rain.

Since there will likely be rain almost every day for the second half, temperatures will generally be lower than the first two weeks of May.

Daily maximum temperatures are likely to range between 33 and 35 degrees Celsius. There may also be some warm and humid nights where minimum temperatures are about 28 deg C, mainly in the southern and eastern parts of Singapore.

Here is the weather forecast for the second half of May:

Highest Temperature Recorded this Month

There’s proof that the weather this month has indeed been unbearable. Previously in April, you may have heard that the temperature rose to 35.9 deg C in Paya Lebar.

You may have thought that was the end of it then, but nope.

Temperatures reached 37.0 deg C in Ang Mo Kio on Friday (13 May), the warmest temperature recorded in 40 years.

This highest daily maximum temperature record is shared with that on 17 April 1983 at Tengah.

On Friday, temperatures exceeded 36 deg C in certain parts of Singapore.

The highest recorded daily maximum temperature in May before this was 36.7 deg C in Admiralty last year.

Rainfall was also below average for the first two weeks of May, with the second week being dry. Rain was up to 84 per cent below average in places like Simei.

Why Is It So Hot Now?

Educational content creator Biogirl MJ, who runs Just Keep Thinking, posted a TikTok to explain why the weather was so warm now.

@justkeepthinking 37°C days.. How about el niNO PLS. 🥵 #elnino #heat #weather #science #scienceteacher #singapore #biogirlmj #justkeepthinking #learningisfun ♬ original sound – Just Keep Thinking

The first reason was that we are currently in the inter-monsoon season, which means there is no monsoon now; hence, it is drier due to less rainfall.

But another factor contributing to the abnormally warm weather is the El Niño phenomenon, which occurs every two to nine years.

The phenomenon occurs when the trade winds weaken or move in the opposite direction. Hence less warm waters reach us, which leads to less evaporation and, therefore, less rainfall.

The combined effect of the two factors is why we experienced excruciatingly warm weather last week, which is indeed abnormal.

Thankfully, the rain is coming in to save us.