The debate stirred up a slew of criticisms online and prompted President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to step-in and urge the public to stick to official channels, in this case the the Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysical Agency (BMKG), for weather information.

It started when Erma Yulihastin, a climatologist at BRIN’s Center for Climate and Atmosphere, warned on Twitter on Monday that “extreme rain” and “heavy storms” were going to hit Greater Jakarta on Wednesday. The claim was promptly refuted by the BMKG in a press briefing on Tuesday, with deputy for meteorology Guswanto saying that Greater Jakarta was more likely to see on Wednesday “moderate to heavy rainfall, but not a storm.”

But Erma’s prediction had already garnered traction.

Acting Jakarta governor Heru Budi Hartono had even advised private companies to allow their employees to work from home during extreme weather events, when asked by reporters about how the Jakarta administration would keep people safe.

“Follow all the information and follow everything that is conveyed by the BMKG,” Jokowi said on Wednesday, as quoted by kompas.com, in response to questions from the press about the conflicting weather warnings.

Terminology differences