Get Ready, The Peak Of The Rainy Season In January 2021

Illustration (Photo: Irfan Meidianto / VOI)

JAKARTA - Deputy for Climatology of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophosics Agency (BMKG) Herizal said that the prediction of the peak of the rainy season will occur in January to February 2021.

"The peak of the 2020-2021 rainy season is predicted for most regions to occur in January to February 2021 which generally coincides with the peak of the Asian Monsoon," Herizal said in his statement, Wednesday, December 9.

Herizal said, the increase in Asian Monsoon winds in December will add to several other special atmospheric phenomena besides the La Nina phenomenon.

These phenomena are in the form of cold surges in Asia, waves of the equatorial atmosphere (MJO), and the meeting of inter-tropical air masses (Inter Tropical Convergence Zone - ITCZ).

"These phenomena are known to occur simultaneously or independently, and are capable of triggering extreme rainfall with a significant impact, which is predicted to occur in the last week period of December 2020 to January 2021," he explained.

Meanwhile, the La Nina phenomenon itself is currently being observed to be taking place in the Pacific Ocean with a moderate level of intensity. The sea surface temperature of the central Pacific Ocean in the Nino 3.4 region shows an anomaly of -1.4 degrees Celsius.

"So the current development shows a moderate La Nina intensity which is predicted to peak in the January to March 2021 period and then will weaken in May 2021," Herizal said.

Furthermore, Herizal said that the rainy season in most areas in Indonesia is predicted to last until April 2021.

He said that increased vigilance is needed in areas that are predicted to receive rainfall accumulation with high to very high criteria or more than 300 mm per month in December 2020 to January 2021.

"The increase in high rainfall is likely to occur on the west coast of Sumatra, most of the islands of Java, Bali, parts of West Nusa Tenggara, parts of NTT, western and central Kalimantan, Sulawesi, parts of Maluku, parts of West Papua and Papua," he concluded.