Weatherman: The heat is on and is here to stay

PETALING JAYA: Weather forecast by the Meteorological Department shows a low chance of rainfall in most parts of the peninsula in the next few weeks.

It was normal to have drier days towards the end of the northeast monsoon with daytime temperature hovering over 30°C, a weatherman said.

“Normally, we will have less rain in February and March. In peninsula, we expect total rainfall of between 50mm and 200mm this month, while in March it would be about 100mm to 300mm,” he said.

“This is normal rain distribution,” he added, saying it would be similar in Sarawak and Sabah.

Kuala Lumpur may see some rains next Thursday afternoon but other than that, it will be sunny and hot, according to the department’s website.

It will also be sunny in most parts of Selangor in the next few days.

Other states are expected to have fine weather till next week with temperatures ranging from 24°C to 33°C. On Friday, Alor Setar recorded a maximum 34.7°C, the highest in the country for the day.

Areas like Cameron Highlands, Genting Highlands, Bukit Bendera and Bukit Fraser are expected to have fine weather but cooler with temperature ranging from 14°C to 29°C next week.

On Wednesday, National Weather Forecast Centre director Muham­mad Helmi Abdullah explained that the dry spell was caused by regional wind patterns that were not conducive for rain. Muhammad said a lack of clouds in the region meant that cold nights and hot afternoons would be common these days.

With the rare bout of cool weather ending recently and the scorching heat returning, some are yearning for cooler days again.

It is the talk among netizens.

Facebook user Max Ong claimed that it was so hot and dry in Kedah that water would evaporate within minutes.

Another, known just as Winny tweeted: “Malaysia is so hot. Where’s the cold weather two weeks ago?”

In mid-January, the meteorological station in low-lying Kuala Krai, Kelantan reported a minimum temperature of 17.2°C.

On Friday, Kuala Krai reported a minimum temperature of 18.5°C while the maximum was 32.3°C.

During the same period last month, the lows recorded at some places such as Petaling Jaya, Kuantan, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu, were well below 25°C.

The Meteorological Department had attributed the drop in temperatures in Peninsula Malaysia to strong north-easterly winds from mainland China, which is going through winter.