Geography and Climate
If you are planning to go tropical and metropolitan, live in Singapore. Singapore is located just off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula where the Indian Ocean meets the South China Sea just 85 miles north of the equator. It is separated from Malaysia by the Straights of Johor to its north and Indonesia’s Riau Islands by the Singapore Straight to its south. Highly urbanized, Singapore is more than three times the size of Washington DC.
Singapore is a city-state that consists of one small main island as well as over 60 small islands (islets). Most of the country is no more than 50 feet above sea level, with the highest point topping out at 538 feet. Hills and valleys dominate the northwest of the island while the eastern region is mainly flat and sandy. Singapore is drained by a large number of narrow and short streams, some of which flow into the sea through mangrove swamps or estuaries. Water reservoirs cover parts of the central area, but there are no significant lakes or rivers in Singapore.
Singapore Time is 15 hours ahead of U.S. Pacific Standard Time. No daylight saving time is observed.
If you like hot and humid weather pretty much all year long, Singapore is the place for you. With its proximity to the equator, the country has no distinct seasons. Weather is characterized by uniform temperature and pressure, high humidity and lots of rain, an average of 92 inches each year.
The temperature hovers within an average range of 73 F minimum to a maximum of nearly 90 F. May is the hottest month and January the coolest.
Relative humidity ranges from the high 90s in the early morning to around 60 percent in the mid-afternoon with the average around 80 percent. However, during heavy rain periods, humidity often reaches 100 percent.
Rain falls more heavily on the western side of the island because of a rain shadow effect. Eastern Singapore is drier and hotter than the western portion of the island. The Northeast Monsoon occurs from December to early March and the Southwest Monsoon from June to September. Cloudy conditions prevail in December and January with frequent afternoon showers. January and February also bring windy conditions with wind speeds often reaching 19 to 31 miles per hour. The Southwest Monsoon brings scattered showers in the late morning and early afternoon.
Singapore is fortunate in that it has not experienced significant natural disasters. With Borneo on one side of the island and Malaysia on the other, Singapore usually is buffered from major typhoons or tsunamis. And, although feeling the effects of earthquakes from other areas, Singapore has never experienced an earthquake.