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Wet June normal, but El Niño is coming, says BMKG
As an unseasonably torrential downpour hammered the city on Wednesday afternoon and evening, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said it had earlier predicted heavy rain for Greater Jakarta in June
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s an unseasonably torrential downpour hammered the city on Wednesday afternoon and evening, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) said it had earlier predicted heavy rain for Greater Jakarta in June.
Emphasizing that the recent dry season rainfall in the capital was not abnormal, Harry Tirto, the BMKG meteorology information head, said several factors were at play, such as solar radiation triggering a high level of evaporation.
'We have already predicted that there would be rain this week. There is no weather irregularity at all,' Harry said when contacted on Wednesday.
'This is the dry season, but that does not mean there will not be any rain.'
The BMKG had also predicted that despite the rain, the city would not experience further flooding, even in susceptible areas such as North and West Jakarta.
Harry did, however, say that city residents should prepare for more heavy rainfall of 10-20 millimeters per hour, or 50-100 millimeters per day, caused by fast-forming afternoon thunderstorms.
On overcast days, rain falls at less than 5 millimeters per hour, or 5-20 millimeters per day, especially on the southern side of the city, he said.
Heavy rain also fell on Tuesday, causing flooding as high as 30 centimeters in a numbers of residential areas in Bintaro, Tangerang, and as high as 50 cm in Jagal Market, Buncit in South Jakarta.
Rainfall on Wednesday evening caused severe traffic congestion in parts of the city, such as Palmerah and Slipi in West Jakarta.
The heavy rain also flooded several other areas, such as around Jl. Ciledug Raya in Tangerang and Pondok Indah, South Jakarta.
Harry said the BMKG would provide further information to the public if there were any weather anomalies occurring in the country, such as the longer dry season that could be expected due to El Niño.
El Niño is phenomenon that occurs every three to seven years in which warming of the eastern tropical Pacific region alters weather patterns across the globe, including in the tropics.
In May, the BMKG said that some areas experiencing an extended wet season could indicate the dry season would also be longer due to El Niño, which affects temperature and rainfall.
'For El Niño, we will feel the effect of it in August, but we will see some signs in July,' Harry said. (idb)
