Early Wet Weather Week, a Number of Regions on Alert for Lightning and Flood Floods

Illustration of rain (ANTARA)

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 Monday, February 2.

In the BMKG weather early warning system, for the Sumatra region, the major cities that are potentially hit by light to moderate rain are Medan, Bengkulu, Padang, Pekanbaru, Jambi, Palembang, and Bandar Lampung. Meanwhile, Aceh and Tanjung Pinang are predicted to be cloudy.

"For Java, light to moderate rain is potentially evenly distributed in Banten, Jakarta, Bandung, Semarang. Yogyakarta, and Surabaya," said BMKG Medayu Bestari's Prakirawan, quoted by Antara Jakarta Monday morning.

Meanwhile, in Kalimantan, the cities of Palangkaraya, Samarinda, and Pontianak are predicted to have light rain. Meanwhile, Banjarmasin and Tanjung Selor have the potential for heavy rain accompanied by lightning.

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

For the island of Sulawesi, light to moderate rain is potentially occurring in Mamuju, and Makassar. Kita Kendari has the potential to be hit by heavy rain accompanied by lightning. Meanwhile, Palu, Gorontalo, and Manado are thick clouds.

Moving to the easternmost region, cities such as Ambon, Sorong, Manokwari, and Jayapura are predicted to be cloudy. Meanwhile, Nabire, and Jayawijaya are predicted to be light to moderate rain. Merauke has the potential for heavy rain accompanied by lightning.

BMKG emphasized that the Weather Modification Operation (OMC) carried out in Indonesia is an effort to mitigate disasters that are measurable and science-based. This step was taken as a parallel response to the decline in environmental carrying capacity and the increasing threat of climate change.

Previously, on social media, there was a narrative that if it was carried out continuously, OMC had risks and was like a time bomb.

In the circulating narrative, OMC has other disaster risks such as making weather conditions unstable and forming cold pools, moving or accumulating water in certain areas so as to cause a major flood, and providing a false sense of security.

In this context, BMKG emphasizes that cold poll or cold pool is a completely natural meteorological phenomenon. This phenomenon occurs when rainwater evaporates under a thunderstorm cloud, cools the air, and creates a dense air mass that falls to the surface.