Be Alert, BMKG Predicts The Rainy Season Will Come Sooner And Bigger Than Usual

Illustration - Dense clouds cover the sky of Lhokseumawe City, Aceh (Photo: Rahmad/Antara)

JAKARTA - The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) predicts the rainy season which has the potential to cause hydrometeorological disasters such as flooding this year will come earlier than the usual cycle.

Not only that, but BMKG also predicts several regions in Indonesia will also experience the rainy season with greater intensity than usual.

Therefore, the Head of BMKG, Dwikorita Karnawati, appealed to the local government and the community to be vigilant and take more mitigation measures to avoid and reduce disaster risk.

"It needs to be a common concern, especially in areas prone to flooding, landslides, and moving soil along with the intensity of rainfall which will continue to increase", said Dwikorita in a virtual press conference, Thursday, August 26.

Dwikorita explained, out of a total of 342 seasonal zones (ZOM) in Indonesia, 14.6 percent are predicted to start the rainy season in September 2021, covering central Sumatra and parts of Kalimantan.

Then 39.1 percent of the area in October 2021, covering southern Sumatra, most of Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Java, and Bali. Meanwhile, as many as 28.7 percent of other regions in November 2021, covering parts of Lampung, Java, Bali-Nusa Tenggara, and Sulawesi.

"When compared to the climatological average of the beginning of the rainy season in the 1981-2010 period, the start of the 2021/2022 rainy season in Indonesia is predicted to advance at 157 ZOM (45.9 percent), the same at 132 ZOM (38.6 percent), and retreat in 53 ZOM (15.5 percent)", explained Dwikorita.

Furthermore, Dwikorita said that in general the nature of rain during the rainy season in 2021-2022 is predicted to be normal or equal to the climatological average of 244 ZOM (71.4 percent).

However, there are a total of 88 ZOM (25.7 percent) will experience above normal or wetter rainy season conditions and 10 ZOM (2.9 percent) will experience below normal rainy season.

The areas that will experience a greater rainy season include parts of Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra, southern Riau, Java, Bali-Nusa Tenggara, North Kalimantan, East Kalimantan west to south, Sulawesi, western North Maluku, southern Seram Island, and southern Papua.

Meanwhile, the peak of the rainy season in the 2021/2022 period itself is predicted to occur in January and February 2022.