Yesterday’s Rain Was Caused by 2 Squalls; It Was So Strong, Several Trees Fell

2019-05-09 , 8:00 pm

And I thought there was just one Squall.

Squall Leonhart of Final Fantasy VIII fame.

A hero so dashingly-suave with a Gunblade, so bleeding-sharp that he could fell trees in just one swing of his legendary weapon.

But that wasn’t the Squall(s) that fell trees in multiple locations in Singapore yesterday.

They were, in fact, two Sumatran squalls.

Trees fell in Bedok, along PIE and Portsdown Road

According to ChannelNewsAsia, several trees were uprooted yesterday as a result of heavy rain and strong winds.

Fengshan Member of Parliament, Cheryl Chan, shared a photo of one such tree that met its demise in a Facebook post.

Image: Screengrab from Facebook/Cheryl Chan (陈慧玲)

In the post, Ms Chan shared that trees were reported to have fallen due to heavy rain and strong winds.

She said that Town Council was working to clear the fallen trees and entreated residents to avoid the affected area and to contact Town Council should they come across any other.

In Other Places…

A fallen tree was also reported to have caused a traffic jam along the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) towards Tuas before Eng Neo Avenue on Wednesday morning.

The jam lasted more than an hour and The Land Transport Authority (LTA) tweeted an advisory at about 11:00 .m. , warning motorists of congestion due to obstacle until the Thomson Road exit.

A tree had also fallen along Portsdown Road yesterday afternoon and workers were seen clearing it.

Two Sumatran Squalls

In response to queries from CNA, the Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS) said the heavy rainfall was due to the passage of two consecutive Sumatra squalls.

The squalls had formed along the Strait of Malacca on the night of 7th “as a result of strong convergence of air streams over the region”.

What Are Squalls?

Other than being the name of a character in the Final Fantasy franchise, squalls happened due to a sudden, sharp increase in wind speeds that last for minutes, as opposed to gusts which last for seconds.

The Sumatra squall lines or sumatras as they are more commonly referred to, “is a term used in Singapore and Malaysia to describe squall lines that develop over Sumatra at night usually between April and November and then steered towards the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore by the southwesterly winds of the southwest monsoon” according to Wikipedia.

“The squall usually arrives during the pre-dawn and early morning with strong wind gusts and thundery showers”, the article adds.

The squalls swept across Singapore on Wednesday morning, between 2:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m., and subsequently between 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.

Intense Rainfall

According to the MSS, total rainfall was at its highest in Jurong West between 2:05 a.m. and 2:00 p.m., at 109.8 mm, with the most intense 30 and 60-minute rainfall recorded at 52.8 mm and 71.9 mm at Simei and Jurong West respectively.

Previously, my Goody Editor, BH, shared that Singapore was to be hot and wet in May.

I bet he would have wanted it another way.

Of course, I’m referring to the way he likes his instant noodles.

In the meantime, be prepared for more of these. Though I guess it’s not too much of a surprise after all.