Prepare an Umbrella, Rain for a Day Potentially Floods Indonesia Today

JAKARTA - The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) predicts that most major cities in Indonesia are potentially covered by clouds to be showered with light intensity rain on Thursday, January 22.

In the BMKG weather early warning system, for the Sumatra region, the major cities that are potentially hit by light to moderate rain are Bengkulu, Palembang, and Bandar Lampung.

"Aceh, Medan, Padang, Pekanbaru, Padang, Jambi, and Tanjung Pinang are predicted to be cloudy," said BMKG Lintang Alya's Prakirawan in a broadcast followed by Antara Jakarta, Thursday morning.

On Java, light to moderate rain is potentially evenly distributed in Banten, Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang. Yogyakarta, and Surabaya.

Meanwhile, in Kalimantan, cities such as Palangka Raya, Tanjung Selor, Pontianak, and Banjarmasin are predicted to be cloudy, only Samarinda has the potential to be hit by light rain.

"Meanwhile, Bali, Mataram, and Kupang have the potential to be hit by light rain," he said.

For Sulawesi Island, light to moderate rain is potentially occurring in Mamuju, Manado, Makassar, Kendari, and Palu. Meanwhile, Gorontalo is predicted to be cloudy.

Moving to the easternmost region, cities such as Sorong, Manokwari, Ambon, and Nabire are predicted to be thick clouds. Meanwhile, Jayapura, Jayawijaya, and Merauke are predicted to be light to moderate rain.

BMKG urges the public to increase vigilance against the potential for increased extreme weather in some parts of Indonesia.

Based on the latest atmospheric dynamics analysis, the area covering southern Sumatra, Java, Bali, to Nusa Tenggara is estimated to experience an increase in rainfall intensity towards the end of January 2026.

BMKG Head Teuku Faisal Fathani explained that the atmospheric disturbance currently observed triggered significant convective cloud growth. This condition can trigger the potential for flooding, landslides, and disruptions in the transportation sector in the affected areas.

"We appeal to the public to remain calm but remain vigilant in the face of potential extreme weather before the end of January," he said.

Meanwhile, the Deputy for Meteorology of the BMKG, Andri Ramdhani, explained that there were a number of technical factors that affected the weather conditions in the coming week.

The factors include the presence of Tropical Cyclone 97S in the southern Indian Ocean with a maximum wind speed of around 15 knots (28 km/h) and an air pressure of 1001 hPa.