2024 Singapore's hottest year on record, highest temperature in April

Singapore experienced its hottest year in 2024, tied with 2019 and 2016, said the Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS) on Friday (Jan 10).

According to MSS' Singapore Climate 2024: The Year in Numbers report, all months recorded temperatures that were equal to or above their respective long-term averages. 

Long-term average refers to the average temperature between 1991 and 2020, while MSS's temperature records date back to 1929.

April was the warmest month in 2024 with a mean temperature of 29.4 degrees Celsius. It was also the warmest April on record, tied with 2016.

It was closely followed by July which had a mean temperature of 29.3 degrees Celsius.

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Despite being one of the cooler months last year, December 2024 was the warmest December on record with a mean temperature of 27.7 degrees Celsius, tying with that of 2015 and 2021.

Additionally, Changi climate station's highest daily maximum temperature for the month was broken on Dec 7, 2024, when it recorded a temperature of 35.6 degrees Celsius. This is 1.7 degrees Celsius higher than the previous record of 33.9 degrees Celsius on Dec 1, 2021.

Singapore also experienced 21 days of high heat stress last year with most of these days occurring in March, April and May.

A day of high heat stress happens when any hourly-average Wet-Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) at a station is equal to or greater than 33 degrees Celsius.

WBGT measures heat while taking into account factors contributing to heat stress such as air temperature, humidity, wind speed and solar radiation.

High heat stress can cause illness such as heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

2024 was also a wetter year, with annual total rainfall averaging 2,739.8mm – 8.1 per cent above the long-term average of 2,534.3mm, and the 12th highest since 1980.

The country's monthly rainfall last year, however, was "highly variable", stated MSS's report.

Although Singapore experienced a wet start to 2024, average rainfall island-wide for February, March and April dropped below their respective long-term averages, said MSS.

There was more rain in May and June, followed by a dry spell that spanned from July 13 to July 30.

November, with an island-wide average rainfall of 419mm, was the wettest November since 1980.

The year ended on a drier note, with December's average rainfall of 221.3 mm – about 30 per cent below its long-term average.

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bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com