Drought Alert, August Becomes The Peak Of Drought In Central Java

Illustration of drought in NTB (ANTARA)

CILACAP- The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) appealed to Central Java residents, especially the southern part of Central Java and Central Java, to be aware of the impact of drought on the peak of the 2023 dry season along with the El Nino phenomenon.

"This August is predicted to be the peak of the dry season, especially in the southern Central Java region and the central mountains of Central Java," said Head of the BMKG Technician Group at the Tunggul Wulung Cilacap Meteorological Station, Teguh Wardoyo, quoted by ANTARA, Thursday, August 3.

He said that based on BMKG predictions, the El Nino index was getting stronger from the weak to moderate.

Thus, he said, conditions at the peak of the 2023 dry season are predicted to be drier than during the dry season a few years earlier which was not accompanied by El Nino.

In addition, he continued, BMKG predicts that the value of the Dipole Mode Index (DMI) from August to December 2023 will range from 0.61-1.49 or be categorized as positive, which has an impact on reducing rainfall in Indonesia.

"Dipole Mode is a phenomenon of sea interaction with the atmosphere in the Indian Ocean which is calculated based on differences in the value or difference in sea surface temperature between the east coast of Africa and the west coast of Sumatra. The difference in the value of the sea surface temperature anomaly is referred to as the Dipole Mode Index (DMI)," he explained.

He said that if DMI was positive, it generally had an impact on reducing rainfall in western Indonesia, while negative DMI had an impact on increasing rainfall in western Indonesia.

In this case, he said, DMI is considered normal when the value ranges from negative 0.4 to positive 0.4.

"Based on the evaluation of the dynamics of the atmosphere, in August 2023 the rainfall in the Central Java region is generally estimated to be around 0-50 millimeters with the general rain under normal (BN)," he said.

Nevertheless, he said that based on the forecast issued by the BMKG of the Semarang Climatology Station, the nature of the rain in August in several central highlands of Central Java, such as a small part of the northern region of Purbalingga Regency and parts of Pemalang Regency, were predicted to be normal.

In fact, he said, rainfall in August in parts of the southern region of Pemalang and Pekalongan Regencies as well as parts of the northern Regencies of Purbalingga and Banjarnegara is predicted to be around 51-100 millimeters. "The dry season does not mean there is absolutely no rain, because the potential for rain is still there even though the rainfall is small," he explained.

He said the southern Central Java and central mountains of Central Java, whose rainfall is predicted to be around 0-20 millimeters, include most of Cilacap Regency, most of Kebumen Regency, most of Purworejo Regency, and parts of the western region of Banyumas Regency.

Meanwhile, the southern Central Java and central mountains of Central Java, whose rainfall is forecasted to be around 21-50 millimeters, cover parts of the southern-east region of Cilacap Regency, parts of the eastern region of Kebumen, parts of the northern region of Purworejo, the eastern region of Banyumas, most of Purbalingga, and most Banjarnegara.

"Regarding the weather forecast, we urge people in the southern Central Java region and Central Java's central mountains to be aware of the threat of drought and the impact of El Nino at the peak of this year's dry season," said Teguh.

According to him, several things can be done by the community to anticipate the threat of drought, including saving on the use of clean water and avoiding land clearing by burning grass so that land fires do not occur.

"People who have a habit of burning garbage in the yard, make sure the fire or coal produced has been completely extinguished before being left behind and don't burn garbage too close to the house to avoid fires," he said.