July 31 weather: Rain potentially flooding Sumatra, West Java, North Kalimantan to Papua

JAKARTA - The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) predicts that light rain is still potentially raining on a number of major cities in Indonesia on Friday, July 31, while Jakarta is predicted to be cloudy to cloudy.

BMKG said that the weather conditions were influenced by the presence of Tropical Cyclone 94W in the western Pacific Ocean, which has the potential to increase the growth of rain clouds in a number of regions in Indonesia.

BMKG Praktirawan Ina Indah said that the seeds of Tropical Cyclone 94W are predicted to be in the north Pacific Ocean of West Papua with a maximum wind speed of 15 knots, a minimum air pressure of 1,008 mb, and moving west.

"The existence of the cyclone seed forms a convergence and confluence area in the Philippine Sea and around the center of the cyclone seed," said Ina as quoted by Antara.

In addition, wind deceleration areas (convergence) are predicted to be formed in various regions of Indonesia ranging from Sumatra Island to Papua. Meanwhile, the wind meeting area (confluence) is predicted to occur in the Malacca Strait, the South China Sea, and the Pacific Ocean north of Papua.

According to BMKG, this condition has the potential to increase the growth of rain clouds around the cyclone seeds or along the convergence and confluence areas.

Based on weather forecasts in major cities, light rain is potentially occurring in Banda Aceh, Medan, Pekanbaru, Tanjung Pinang, Bandar Lampung, Serang, Bandung, Tanjung Selor, Mamuju, Palu, Manokwari, Nabire, Wamena, and Merauke.

Meanwhile, sunny to cloudy weather is predicted to occur in Jambi, Palembang, Pangkal Pinang, Jakarta, Semarang, Pontianak, Palangka Raya, Samarinda, Banjarmasin, Denpasar, Kupang, Makassar, Kendari, Gorontalo, Manado, Ternate, Ambon, and Jayapura.

BMKG also predicts that hazy air has the potential to occur in Bengkulu, Yogyakarta, and Surabaya. Meanwhile, the condition of smoke or fog is expected to occur in Padang, Mataram, and Sorong.

The public is urged to continue monitoring the latest weather information through the official BMKG channel so that they can anticipate the potential for rain and weather changes that can affect daily activities.

Previously, BMKG projected that the El Nino phenomenon would last until the beginning of the first quarter of 2027 with the opportunity to reach the strong category intensity. This condition is expected to coincide with the emergence of the positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) phenomenon from September to December 2026.

Head of BMKG Teuku Faisal Fathani said that this condition has the potential to trigger a dry season that is drier than normal so that the government intensifies the Weather Modification Operation (OMC) in a number of strategic areas to reduce the risk of forest and land fires as well as drought.

"This climate information is in line with the BMKG's prediction, where the El Nino phenomenon is projected to last until early 2027 and trigger a drier than normal drought condition," said Teuku Faisal Fathani.