The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has forecast rainfall over 96.8 percent of the Indonesian territory during the upcoming Christmas and New Year holidays.

“The rainy season, in general, occurs during Christmas and New Year. This means that 96.8 percent of Indonesia’s territory has entered the rainy season,” said BMKG’s deputy for meteorology, Guswanto, in Medan on Thursday.

He made the statement after a working visit to review the readiness of the Christmas and New Year’s Integrated Command Post 2021/2022 at Belawan Maritime Meteorological Station, Medan, North Sumatra province.

The peak rainy season is expected to occur in North Sumatra province from November 2021 until the end of December 2021, he noted.
Several other regions in Indonesia will gradually enter peak rainy season at different times between January and February next year, he informed.

“We estimate that the rainy season will still occur during Christmas and New Year. While the rain in North Sumatra province usually occurs in the afternoon or evening,” he said.

Hence, the public needs to remain alert for weather disturbances, such as cyclonic circulations, he added. A wind confluence area is currently being observed in Peninsular Malaysia and west of Bengkulu, he said.

“(This cyclonic circulation) will supply water vapor, thereby increasing rainfall in North Sumatra. Meanwhile, people need to be aware of heavy rain accompanied by lightning in North Sumatra, for example, in Mandailing Natal, South Tapanuli, and Nias. In some of those areas, there have even been floods,” he added.

“We estimate that the weather conditions in North Sumatra will last until mid-January or February, as they are still influenced by the La Nina phenomenon when we release the 2021/2022 rainy season,” Guswanto remarked.

Source: Antara News