MonsoonMaiden

Caused by Cyclone 03B (Hudhud) http://mashable.com/2014/10/16/india-cyclone-hudhud-nepal/#:eyJzIjoiZiIsImkiOiJfYzBmdmFmODUzdDR1djkxOCJ9

I might add that if you want meals on the day that you arrive, you have to let them know beforehand. We usually go to Strawberry Park Hotel nearby for lunch and dinner if we happen to forget about this.

Hi, sorry for the late reply ... yes we encountered the same problem but we just booked an extra room to solve it, since it ended up costing about the same that way. Hope that helps!

Here is a video showing the waterspout spinning a small ship around.

The Straits Times May 26, 2007 A towering sight off the east coast By Andrea Ong THOUSANDS of people from the city centre to Changi were transfixed yesterday afternoon as a large water spout appeared off the east coast. The water funnel rose majestically from the sea, and sent people scrambling for their cameras and cellphones. In fact, the water spout broke all previous records for reader reaction at The Straits Times' online portal Stomp, with 150 SMSes, MMSes and e-mails streaming in within 10 minutes. In all, Stomp received more than 500 images and videos from readers, who used various terms to describe the phenomenon: a tornado, cyclone, hurricane and even 'a finger of God'. The spout was large enough to be spotted from Marina Bay, Shenton Way, Kallang, Bedok, the East Coast and even at Changi. Staff at Equinox Restaurant - atop the 226m-tall Swissotel The Stamford hotel - were amazed by its size. Its manager, Mr Mutto Kawary, 30, said the huge column seemed like it was more than twice the hotel's height. The National Environment Agency (NEA) said in a statement that the spout appeared at about 2.30pm off Marine Parade and lasted about 30 minutes. Mr Benjamin Li, 24, said he saw an aircraft in its vicinity and feared for the plane's safety. The account executive was in his 31st-storey office in Springleaf Tower in Anson Road. 'Everyone went quiet,' he said. The plane emerged unscathed. Water spouts appear when a type of cloud, cumuliform, forms during thunderstorms, creating low-pressure pockets. A column of water is then sucked up towards the base of the cloud. The NEA said water spouts are common in tropical waters and there are usually one or two sightings off Singapore in a year. The last spout was seen in August last year. Spouts seem to dissipate fairly quickly. While they can pose a threat to small boats in the water, they usually weaken and vanish when they come nearer to shore.

Hi, for those interested, I have updated my waterspout entry with a radar image of the thunderstorm producing the waterspout. Here is a series of radar images of the squall line that affected the island on 30 April, which our Finnish forecaster was referring to (see my earlier post on 20 May). The gust front is quite distinct. We had an unusually large number of squall lines on consecutive days this April. April is the transition period between our two monsoons (northeast monsoon and southwest monsoon). We normally get the squall lines during the southwest monsoon period, but we can also get them at other times of the year, whenever our winds change to westerlies/southwesterlies. I must apologise for the quality of the radar images - they've been showing a lot of noise/interference. I think we should consider upgrading our radar soon, it's getting on in age ...

Thanks.

We had a flurry of calls from the police, civil defence and the public today, because a distinct waterspout was sighted off the southeastern coast of the island. Our radar showed that the weather system producing it was just a small thunderstorm. Which goes to show that you don't need a large and impressive thunderstorm to produce an impressive waterspout. What is as amazing as the waterspout is the speed at which news travels nowadays. Practically everyone on this island has a cellphone with a camera in it, and photos were soon being sent to our office and the media. An hour later the local online news websites I checked (Channel Newsasia and the Straits Times) both featured the phenomenon. I managed to get this nice series of photos from a colleague, which seems to show the waterspout dissipating.

I was amused by the following email from a gentleman from Finland...he certainly is very enthusiastic - I find meteorology interesting, but I'm not sure I would carry a windmeter around like he does! Will post some radar images of the squall line he mentioned when I have the time. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Hello! I am a forecaster from Finnish Met. Institute. I got a chance to visit Singapore second time 24-30.4.2007. I traveled with my brother who was also last year visiting Singapore. Few reasons I wanted to contact you: 1) Possibility to visit your forecast office in Changi Airport in the future, 2) weather in Singapore during our stay, 3) special events during our stay 1) It would be a great honour to visit your forecasting office, maybe during next visit. The place is not best one if considered just after arrival (12-15 hours of flying from Helsinki) with all the luggage and immigration prosedures. On the other hand, paying a visit in the middle of the stay would mean to take a cab or MRT to Changi. In fact we traveled from Raffles Place to Changi via MRT. Would it be possible to pay a visit? I would contact weeks before time of the visit. I just would be interested of your day-to-day routines, forecasting models, effect of El Nino-La Nina to climate... 2) Year before (late April 2006) the weather was relatively dry with 3-4 days without any rain. Temperatures were also many times above 30 C. This time it was a little different story. We stayed one night longer but still it rained every single day (8 days a row). Temperatures has hard time reach 30 C. Typically it rained during night or in the morning and the cloud deck didn't vanish until the afternoon hours. It must have rained 120-150 mm locally during this period of our stay. Does shift from weak El Nino to near neutral in ENSO during December06, January-February07 has an impact? 3) I would like get little more info of these two events: On the nights 29th and 30th (3-4 AM) strong thunderstorm and strong wind keep us awake. What triggers strong nightly thunderstorms in Singapore/Malesiya area? Radiation cooling on the top of the cirrus? How many lightning strikes (cloud to ground) strong storms produce usually? I noticed that local people doesn't care a lot even when lightning strikes rumbles very near. Some tall skyscrapers may take few strikes? This 30th April nightly event was even more bizzar. Usually in the tropics no strong winds are observed even with thunder. Last year I measured with my portable windmeter of 13 m/s gusts from the 28th floor of Swissotel the Stamford. This time we were on the same side (baywye) but on the 51th floor (120-130 m AGL). At 3 AM 30.4.2007 strong haueling wind woke us. It was raining heavily but no thunder was heard. I did not go to balcony because of the lightning risk. The wind was blowing pretty hard about 10-15 min. I would estimate that the gusts were near 15 m/s. We even sceared some clothes drying on the balcony floor could lift up. Of course our position was over 100 m above sea level, but I think there was strong gusts even on the ground level. What was behind this event? Downdrafts? How strong can winds be in strong thunderstorms? Ps. In our opinion Singapore is by far the best country we have visited. Clean, hospitality and everything. Growing traffic and Casinos built may be some conserns in the future. XXX forecaster, Finnish Meteorological Institute Helsinki, Finland

May 15, 2007 The sun rises on S'pore's solar industry Landmark buildings may go solar; NUS in talks on research, teaching centre By Jessica Cheam THE solar industry is shaping up as a sunrise one. Landmark buildings - and there are so many on this sun-drenched island - may soon sport solar panels that do double duty as roofs. Solar-energy architects here are pushing for more than just solar panels slapped atop buildings to turn sunlight into electricity: They want to make what are called photovoltaic panels an intrinsic part of the structure and design of buildings like MRT stations. The architecture department of the National University of Singapore (NUS) is now in talks with the Economic Development Board (EDB) to set up a research and teaching centre to promote the concept. Details of the Building Integrated PhotoVoltaics (BIPV) Centre have not been finalised, but it is likely to be the first architecture-driven BIPV centre in Asia, said Assistant Professor Stephen Wittkopf of NUS. The Straits Times understands that the centre, likely to be run by NUS, will also offer specialised programmes for students and eventually, for professionals, to get a qualification in BIPV. BIPV could be the next big thing here, given that National Research Foundation chairman Tony Tan recently declared clean energy - and especially solar energy - as a likely major engine of Singapore's growth by 2015. Singapore's thrust into clean energy received an infusion of $170 million from the Government recently as part of a larger $350 million fund set aside for the Republic's green-energy drive. Prof Wittkopf said that, with Singapore buildings being chock-a-block and the island's location on the sun belt, it made sense to explore this technology. Research on 'solar architecture' is already under way. NUS' architecture department has been looking into how feasible it will be to apply this technology to selected buildings like Ang Mo Kio MRT station, the Environment Building in Scotts Road and the Poh Ern Shih Temple in Pasir Panjang. How efficient is BIPV? It is estimated that a system comprising 2,900 sq m of solar panels - the size of almost half a football field - can generate enough electricity to power about 100 three-room Housing Board flats. This is the reckoning of Ms Huang Yi Xiang, 25, who is working towards a master's degree in architecture at NUS. She designed a 280 kilowatt-peak system for the Ang Mo Kio MRT station. A kilowatt-peak is a measure of the amount of electricity produced under defined conditions. Developing manpower and expertise in the technology is crucial if it is to take off here, stressed Prof Wittkopf. He hopes the BIPV centre will do its bit to groom local talent for the solar industry. He said: 'Seeing is believing. If people see these panels around them, it creates public awareness and acceptance, which will help create a future demand, and bring prices down to a competitive level.' Price is a major dampener on the adoption of solar technology, and this is where the Government can step in, suggested Mr Christophe Inglin, who chairs the Renewable Energy Committee of the Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore. He added that BIPV was especially appropriate in Singapore, which cannot spare land for solar plants. EDB said it was unable to comment further on the BIPV Centre but confirmed that it was 'in talks with NUS to raise the level of R&D in the area of clean energy'. The Building and Construction Authority (BCA) also confirmed that it was in discussion with EDB and NUS and would release more details on the showcase project soon.

Singaporeans experienced two rounds of tremors in the space of two hours on Tuesday, following two earthquakes in Padang, Indonesia. Singapore's Meteorological Services Division said the first tremors were felt at about 11.50am after an earthquake measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale struck Padang on the island of Sumatra. The epicentre was 50 kilometres north-northeast of Padang and some 430 kilometres south-west of Singapore. The second round of tremors occurred around 1.50pm after another earthquake, also measuring 6.6 on the Richter scale, struck Padang. The Police and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) received nearly 1,000 calls from the public reporting tremors after the two quakes. The tremors were felt in many parts of Singapore and in some 236 buildings. Most of the buildings were in Ang Mo Kio, Yishun, Toa Payoh, Woodlands, Serangoon, Sengkang and CBD areas like Robinson Road and Shenton Way. Callers to the MediaCorp News Hotline reported tremors were also felt at Beach Road and Choa Chu Kang. Of those affected, 131 were HDB buildings, 95 commercial buildings and 10 private residences. Witnesses said some tall buildings in the central business district swayed slightly. Several buildings, like the Concourse, Capital Square and Centennial Tower in the city, and even Ngee Ann Polytechnic in Clementi, were evacuated. Police said there were no reports of injuries from the tremors in Singapore. Office worker Nicholas Wong said he and his colleagues were at their office shortly before lunchtime when they felt the building shaking. "We grabbed our bags and just evacuated," he told 93.8 Live radio station. "Everyone was panicking. One of my colleagues was crying because she had never felt such an effect before. We were all rushing out of the building." But public relations executive Gavin Liow, 23, said he and his colleagues took it calmly. "I thought, what the hell was it? You don't expect such things to happen," he told AFP. Danny Tan Ming Xiong, 24, said he and his colleagues also felt the tremors. "We were kind of freaked (the) first time. My colleagues and I thought we were giddy. Everyone started asking each other if we felt it, then realised the building was shaking," he told AFP. "My company made the decision to get out of the building. We went down 40 storeys by stairs." A spokesman for Saint Andrews Junior College said the first tremor disrupted lessons and students were dismissed after the second one "to pre-empt further interruptions, and in the students' interests and safety." Another office worker told Channel NewsAsia he saw people screaming as they went out. Others felt no tremors at all but got swept along by the general reaction. "I didn't feel anything when one of my colleagues called me to evacuate," said South African Bulelwa Makina, 24. "This is my first time feeling a tremor in Singapore but because I have been here for a while, I do know that Singapore does get tremors from other countries so I wasn't shocked," she told AFP. - CNA/ir

Well it seems that the rainfall this December has been exceptionally heavy this year. Maybe I've been too busy to notice, but it didn't seem any worse to me than 2001 when Typhoon Vamei hit Singapore ... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Straits Times Forum Dec 28, 2006 Flood-prone areas cut from 3,200ha to 130ha PUB, the national water agency, thanks Mr Thomas Lee Zhi Zhi for his letter, 'Civil Service should be more proactive' (ST, Dec 27). On Dec 19, Singapore was hit by the third-highest rainfall recorded since 1931. The 24-hour rainfall recorded was 366mm. This exceeds the average amount of 284 mm recorded for the month of December in previous years. The highest rainfall recorded in one day was 512 mm in 1978, while the second-highest rainfall recorded was 467mm in 1969. The floods took several days to subside and thousands of people were affected. Since then, the drainage system in Singapore has been improved and the flood-prone areas were effectively reduced from 3,200ha to 130ha. New projects, such as the Marina Barrage, are some of the proactive steps that we have been taking to further decrease the flood-prone areas. Although heavy rainfall was expected this period, the rainfall on Dec 19 was exceptionally high. Only two locations, Olive/Joan Road and Upper Thomson/Mandai Road, had prolonged flooding for about a day as they are both low-lying areas. The junction of Olive Road and Joan Road lies in the Caldecott Valley, which is between 1.5m and 3m below the level of the main road. While these low-lying areas flood occasionally, this is the first time that the waters overflowed onto the roads and affected traffic on Upper Thomson Road and the junction of Olive Road and Joan Road. The Thomson nurseries are slated for redevelopment in the long term, which will include raising the ground level and building bigger drains. Meanwhile, PUB will continue to monitor the area and take action to help alleviate flooding. PUB works closely with other agencies - the National Environment Agency on weather and Traffic Police on road conditions. The public is welcome to give feedback to our 24-hour call centre, PUB-One, on 1800-284 6600. Yap Kheng Guan Director, Drainage PUB

And I was wondering why the net was so slow. I'd received a dozen SMS alerts on the Taiwan quake, but didn't take much notice because it was so far away ... we're more concerned with quakes around the Sumatra region. Who would think that a quake in Taiwan would still affect us! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dec 28, 2006, 0.00 am (Singapore time) Home users and businesses cut off from websites abroad THOUSANDS of home users and companies here found themselves cut off from the Internet on Wednesday morning, after several undersea telecommunications cables were damaged in the Taiwan earthquake. In one of the most extensive disruptions here in years, IDD calls to Taiwan as well as two cable TV channels here were also affected. Internet users who tried to go online early in the morning found they could not access overseas websites and sometimes failed to send or receive e-mail. Access to websites based here, like the Singapore Government's, were not affected, as the traffic did not have to be routed overseas. The problem began to ease in the afternoon, when the telecoms traffic was diverted to other cables unaffected by the earthquake. By then, however, the breakdown had caused widespread disruption for companies that relied on the Net for business, including big firms with extensive telecoms links. Both SingTel and StarHub were inundated with calls from customers. SingTel, which co-owns three of the damaged cables as part of a consortium, said work was under way to repair the cables.A StarHub spokesman said Internet users can expect to face slow traffic for at least a few days. Transmission of two of StarHub's cable TV channels - Hallmark and TV5Monde - was also disrupted because the images are delivered over the affected cables to Singapore. Meanwhile, IDD calls made to Taiwan by SingTel, StarHub and MobileOne customers could not be completed for several hours until evening. At SunPage, IDD calls to the United States, Japan and Taiwan were affected, though a spokesman said the problem had been fixed by 6pm, with the exception of calls to Taiwan. The downtime also affected news agencies Reuters and Bloomberg, which provide live financial information to markets in the region. Bloomberg's wire services in Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and in parts of India were disrupted. The business news agency could not say when services would be fully restored. At stockbrokers UOB Kay Hian, online trading was hit. Customers trying to trade shares online had difficulty logging on to its website and also could not view stock charts. The problem caught many people here by surprise. Even though it was spotted late on Tuesday night, shortly after the first reports of the powerful Taiwan quake, the disruption became clear only on Wednesday morning when many people went online. Consultant Steven Ng, 32, said: 'The problem became better in the evening, but it was still on and off when I tried going to Google.' The last time users here faced a similar problem was in May last year, when an undersea cable between Singapore and the Philippines was cut. Only StarHub users were affected then.

Hello, P What's with the ape??? :huh: The joys of childhood, indeed. I always enjoy your reminisces about Singapore, keep 'em coming. I haven't had the time to look around the forum for a while ... but that is a lot of water! I'm not exactly having a good Christmas - the children are sick. Yes, the joys of childhood. Anyway hope you're having a good one too, and all the best for the coming year. MM :blush:

Dec 20, 2006 24 hours of rain mayhem Floods and landslides hit island Fallen trees hold up traffic SINGAPORE was lashed by the third-largest deluge of rain in recorded history yesterday, causing heavy flooding in parts of the island, bringing down trees and triggering landslides. The rain was most intense over the northern and central parts of the island, where flooding affected at least four locations. Vehicles were diverted from several traffic junctions, which had been rendered impassable by the rising waters. Off Olive Road, the water was waist-deep, submerging nurseries along Thomson Road and paralysing cars, vans and lorries. According to the Public Utilities Board (PUB), there was 'spillage' at the nearby MacRitchie Reservoir and at Upper Seletar Reservoir. Landslides were reported in two places: along Mandai Road and Bukit Batok West Avenue 2. High water was not the only reason for the traffic woes. A tree fell along Alexandra Road opposite Ikea, blocking three lanes. On Monday night, a tall tree had toppled and smashed through the windows of four flats at a housing block in Joo Seng Road and also damaging a concrete window ledge. Yesterday, Marine Parade Town Council said it was unsure whether the tree had been struck by lightning or had fallen due to strong winds during the thunderstorm. It is deciding whether to remove three other trees on the same slope. Aside from the havoc and damage to property, at press time there were no official reports of any deaths or injuries resulting from the rain. The only accidents so far have been minor, resulting from mishaps such as people falling into submerged drains. The Singapore Civil Defence Force said it had been called in to rescue three employees from an office building along Upper Thomson Road yesterday afternoon, after the flood prevented them from opening a main gate. Firefighters had to cut a hole in the side fence to let them out. PUB said yesterday's rainfall was the third-highest recorded in Singapore in the last 75 years. Over a 20-hour period until 8 pm, the highest total rainfall was 345mm, recorded in Yio Chu Kang. This figure far surpasses the entire monthly average for December, which is 284.4mm. The highest rainfall recorded in Singapore over 24 hours was 512.4mm in 1978, which resulted in the worst flooding in recent history. The second highest was 467mm, in 1969. The National Environment Agency (NEA) said the heavy rain was caused by the north-east monsoon, which started in early December. During the season, there are sudden surges in the north-east winds, which carry a lot of moisture. They usually last two to seven days. When heavy rain coincides with high tide, flash floods can result in low-lying areas. The water level in drains and canals becomes so high that the water cannot be drained off quickly enough, causing floods to occur. This is what happened at a kampung in low-lying Lorong Buangkok yesterday. Water started rising around the wooden home of 60-year-old housewife Habsah Rohe at around dawn. She frantically took her carpets off the floor and dumped her laundry on her bed. Within two hours, the water was up to her knees. 'What a back-breaking task scooping water out of the house,' she said with a sigh. She may have to get used to it. Wet weather with occasional heavy showers is expected for the rest of the week. The NEA's meteorological services division says the wet spell is expected to improve gradually.