The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has warned the public that there is a possibility that rainfall for the end of June might be less than 20 millimetres per day.
Several Indonesian regions are also set to have zero rainfall.
“This affects potential drought with ‘siaga’ or standby to ‘awas’ or alert status in several regions,” Deputy of Climatology Division, Herizal stated.
According to Herizal, the areas experiencing zero rainfall will be Yogyakarta, East Java (Sampang and Malang), East Nusa Tenggara, West Java (Indramayu), and Bali (Buleleng). Other areas such as North Jakarta, Banten, West Nusa Tenggara, and most of Central Java are also set to have low rainfall, at approximately less than 20mm per day.
According to the BMKG, 35 per cent of all areas in Indonesia have entered the dry season, while the remaining 65 per cent are still experiencing rainy season. The dry season has currently arrived in the north and east coast of Aceh, northern North Sumatra, southern Sumatra, Java, Bali, NTB, NTT, southeast Kalimantan, the west coast of South Sulawesi, the north coast of North Sulawesi, the coast in the waters of Central Sulawesi, parts of Maluku, and southern Papua.
“The dry season does not mean there is no rain at all. Several areas are predicted to have rain,” Heriza added.
He also explained that the drought could affect the agricultural sector. Lack of water and forest fires are also potential problems during drought season.
Source: Tempo
Image: Tempo