Weather December 18, 2023, Rain Accompanied By Lightning Occurs In West Java And East Java

Illustration of thunderstorms (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - A number of provinces in Indonesia are predicted to experience rain that can be accompanied by lightning or lightning on Monday, according to the weather early warning of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

The BMKG website, which states that heavy rain accompanied by lightning is predicted to occur in the provinces of Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Riau, Riau Islands, Jambi, South Sumatra, Bangka Belitung Islands, Lampung, West Java, East Java, West Nusa Tenggara, and East Nusa Tenggara (NTT).

Similar conditions are also predicted in the provinces of West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, North Sulawesi, Gorontalo, West Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, Maluku and West Papua.

Meanwhile, provinces with the potential for strong winds are Aceh, South Sumatra, Banten, East Java, West Nusa Tenggara, South Kalimantan, and Maluku.

BMKG conveyed that based on the Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO) spatial filter model on December 18-19, 2023, spatially monitored disruptions of the MJO phenomenon were observed to be active in NTB, NTT, South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, Maluku, West Papua, Papua, Java Sea, Flores Sea, Banda Sea, Savu Sea, Timor Sea, Seram Sea, and Arafura Sea which could potentially lead to an increase in the growth of rain clouds in the region.

The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) reminded the public to always monitor weather forecasts if they want to travel during the 2023 Christmas and 2024 New Year holidays, especially if they want to travel.

"Wherever we travel, to mountainous areas or beaches, we always get used to seeing weather forecasts, especially hilly areas and river tourism," said Head of the BNPB Disaster Data, Information and Communication Center Abdul Muhari, quoted by ANTARA, Monday, December 18.

The man who is familiarly called Aam emphasized the public to be aware of the dangers of flooding that can come at any time at natural tourist attractions near the river flow, considering that not many people are paying attention to weather conditions in upstream areas of the river.

Furthermore, he also emphasized the same thing for people who want to travel in areas located on slopes of mountains, hills and cliffs, because high rainfall has the potential to cause landslides.

"The view is good, but we must anticipate the threat of danger, that does not mean it is not allowed," he said.

For this reason, Aam encourages the local government (Pemda) to establish the status of 'Alert' or 'Emergency' in places prone to disasters, so that if a disaster occurs at any time, BNPB can participate in intervening in handling natural disasters.