People rest next to the pond outside the ArtScience museum at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore on Oct 27, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP)

SINGAPORE — The Meteorological Service Singapore (MSS) announced on Wednesday that Oct 9 marked Singapore's highest temperature ever recorded for the month.

October 2023 was generally warm with daily maximum temperatures above 34 degrees Celsius on 25 days. On Oct 9, temperatures exceeded 35 degrees Celsius in several parts of Singapore, with 36.3 degrees Celsius recorded in the north of Singapore, according to the MSS.

As for temperatures, the BOM pointed out that the national mean temperature for October was 1.05 degrees Celsius warmer than the 1961-1990 average for Australia as a whole

This is the highest temperature ever recorded in Singapore in the month of October, surpassing the previous record high of 35.7 degrees Celsius recorded on Oct 14, 2001 and Oct 13, 2019.

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Following the haze episode which affected Singapore on Oct 7 and 8, the haze situation gradually improved with increased showers over Singapore and the surrounding region later in October, according to the MSS.

Australia underwent its driest October since 2002, with the nationally-averaged total rainfall being 65.4 percent below the 1961-1990 average, according to a report newly released by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BOM).

The BOM report issued on Wednesday said all states and territories of Australia, except Victoria, had below-average rainfall for October.

For Western Australia, it was the driest October on record since the national dataset began in 1900, with statewide rainfall 83.5 percent below average.

Meanwhile, rainfall was above average for most of eastern Victoria extending into adjacent parts of New South Wales.

As for temperatures, the BOM pointed out that the national mean temperature for October was 1.05 degrees Celsius warmer than the 1961-1990 average for Australia as a whole, which resulted from a large high-pressure system dominating the continent.

Hot and dry weather, alongside strong and gusty winds, fanned up "extreme to catastrophic" fire danger for parts of Australia, with multiple grassfires and bushfires breaking out across northern and eastern parts of the country.

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In October, southeastern Australia also saw some "winter-like conditions," as a strong cold front swept through the region with winds, showers, polar air and "speckled" clouds.

"On Oct 25 and 26, large parts of South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales and southwestern Queensland experienced daily maximum temperatures 4 to 8 degrees Celsius cooler than average for October," said the bureau.

During the month, several centimeters of snow settled on elevated parts of southern and central Tasmania as well as Alpine regions in Victoria.