Met Dept: Rain expected over weekend

PETALING JAYA: Malaysians will get a brief respite from the dry spell plaguing the country – with relief expected from a typhoon passing nearby.

Malaysia Meteorological Depart­ment’s (MMD) deputy director-general Alui Bahari said more rainfall was expected this week, especially during the weekend.

Super Typhoon Halong, which has strengthened to 240kph, is expected to make landfall tomorrow at Shikoku, Japan’s smallest island.

“When a typhoon is gathering, the moisture in the air becomes concentrated towards the typhoon, which brings about a dry spell.

“The moisture will be released again once the typhoon has decayed, resulting in more rainfall,” explained Alui.

Water saver: The Hybrid Off-River Augmentation System (Horas) is a storm-water harvesting system and accumulation of groundwater project, developed by the state government in Bestari Jaya, Kuala Selangor.

He said the region was susceptible to dry spells when typhoons originating in the Pacific Ocean start to form.

“As August is a peak season for typhoons, the country will experience alternate periods of dry and wet weather throughout the month,” he said.

Alui added that while rainfall was expected to increase this week, MMD would still be conducting cloud seeding operations over water catchment areas to boost dam levels.

Meanwhile, the air quality around the country improved slightly yesterday compared to Wednesday.

The air pollutant index (API) of Port Klang, which reached an “unhealthy” level of 115 on Wednesday, came down to a “moderate” level of 56 yesterday.

Other areas which recorded moderate readings yesterday included Miri (74), Sri Aman (67), Batu Muda in Kuala Lumpur (64) and Bakar Arang in Sungai Petani (56).