Uncommon strong winds in Singapore

Uncommon strong winds in Singapore

Channel NewsAsia

SINGAPORE: One person said it has become so difficult to play tennis, while another is putting off plans to go on a picnic. Singapore Polytechnic has even decided, for safety reasons, to take down two banners after one was blown away.

Some feathers have certainly been ruffled by the winds in Singapore this week. In a country where the average wind speed is around 15 to 20 kilometres per hour, it has reached the time of the year when that figure goes up to 30 to 40 kmh.

Yesterday and on Wednesday, when this newspaper checked the National Environment Agency’s website, which lists a range of forecasts such as fair, cloudy and rain, there was only one outlook for all five districts and 45 town areas — windy.

And while strong winds are not uncommon when there are thunderstorms, it has been "generally fair" with rainfall "below average across the whole island", noted the NEA on its website.

That has been good news for event coordinator Michelle Ting, 19, who told TODAY: "I think it’s awesome. I don’t mind going out more even though it’s sunny, as it’s not so hot." Others, though, who prefer the sunnier side of Singapore have lamented that it’s as cold outdoors as it is in their offices.

Temperatures have dropped to lows of 24 degrees Celsius and will stay that way, according to the NEA’s latest three—day outlook.

In its fortnightly outlook, which it posted yesterday, the NEA said: "Moderate North—east Monsoon conditions should continue to prevail with Singapore experiencing occasionally windy conditions."

During this period, showers with thunder in the afternoon can be expected on four to five days, while stronger north—east winds may bring moderate to occasionally heavy rain on two to three days.

The agency told TODAY that between December to March, stronger winds over the South China Sea and parts of the region are caused when "occasional surges of cold air" head this way from northern China.

"The impact of the high pressure system is windy conditions across the island as we have been having the past couple of days," said the NEA.

In Thailand, the cold snap has been severe and news reports on Wednesday said temperatures have fallen to 2 degrees Celsius in the north, killing five people and prompting the authorities to declare an emergency zone across half the country.

In Singapore, some say they are falling ill. "As it is sometimes hot and sometimes cold, I had a sore throat and my daughter had high fever," said housewife Maimunah A Hamid, 56.

But for the most part, the weather has been a light—hearted topic of discussion. Operations assistant Haslinda Md Yasin, 33, said she is pleased that the wind is drying her laundry faster than usual.

Marketing executive Jasmine Yuan, meanwhile, told TODAY: "The winds are crazy. We were walking for a bit outdoors and our hair is being messed up... Until the winds improve, I’ll not do my hair."

— TODAY/fa

- wong chee tat :)

BURN-E

From wiki:

The story begins with WALL-E running his hand through the rings of Saturn while holding on to the side of EVE's spaceship. One of the rock particles that swirls away begins to increase in velocity and size once it moves up against the atmosphere of Mars, becoming a meteorite that destroys a small lamp outside the Axiom. A repair robot named BURN-E is dispatched by SUPPLY-R, a storage robot that dispenses spare lamp spires, to replace it. Before he can secure the lamp, EVE's ship begins to enter the Axiom's docking bay. Still clinging onto the side of the ship, WALL-E waves to BURN-E, who waves back, distracting him while the loose lamp floats off into space.

Obtaining another spare from SUPPLY-R, BURN-E begins to weld the lamp down. Meanwhile, inside the Axiom, WALL-E and EVE witness the security robot GO-4 place the plant from Earth into an escape pod set to self-destruct, launching it with WALL-E inside and EVE giving chase. The pod explodes a few seconds later and BURN-E turns around in surprise, accidentally slicing off the lamp with his blowtorch. Annoyed, SUPPLY-R gives BURN-E the last spare lamp, which BURN-E finally manages to install successfully. At this time, WALL-E, who survived the pod explosion, is dancing in space with EVE. The two enter the ship through the only available entrance near BURN-E, flying inside and accidentally locking him out.

After BURN-E sits hopelessly outside for some time, WALL-E and EVE are about to be jettisoned into space through a garbage airlock. BURN-E sees the airlock open and tries to enter the ship, but as soon as he reaches it, a WALL-A unit pushes a button that slams the airlock shut in front of BURN-E. BURN-E gives up all hope and begins to doodle with his blowtorch when it dawns on him that he can cut a hole in the door with it. He does so and returns to SUPPLY-R to turn on the lamp. Before he can, the Captain of the Axiom and Auto get into a fight, causing the ship to tilt off its axis, throwing BURN-E outside again. The Captain deactivates Auto and realigns the ship, which then blasts into hyperspace at full momentum, pinning BURN-E to the hull.

The Axiom lands on Earth, and BURN-E goes back inside to find the ship has been completely deserted. BURN-E's search leads him into one of the ship's escape pods, where he sees SUPPLY-R out the window. BURN-E waves to him from inside the pod, accidentally launching it and crashing to the ground below near SUPPLY-R. BURN-E flings the hatch on the pod off and finally turns on the lamp, which is then destroyed by the flying hatch. BURN-E collapses in defeat. After the credits, SUPPLY-R attempts to console the inconsolable BURN-E by patting him on the head, saying, "There, there."

- wong chee tat :)