West coast of peninsula a hotspot for landspouts, says MetMalaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: Several states on the west coast of the peninsula as well Sabah and Sarawak could experience landspouts, whirlwind-like phenomena similar to the one that struck Ipoh on Sunday (Jan 30).

Kedah, Penang, Perak, Selangor, Melaka and Negri Sembilan are among them, said Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) Centre for Meteorological Instrumentation and Atmospheric Science senior director Ambun Dindang.

He said they also tend to strike coastal areas such as Bintulu and Miri in Sarawak, Labuan and western Sabah.

"These are areas where such incidences have occurred before and could occur again, with the right weather conditions (the presence of cumulonimbus clouds),” he said on Monday (Jan 31).

On Sunday, landspouts wreaked havoc in Ipoh, resulting in extensive property damage involving hundreds of homes.

He said large cumulonimbus clouds lead to strong convection that forms "funnels" at the cloud base, which in turn cause a strong wind shear that then forms a landspout.

"This is what happened in Perak... we detected large cumulonimbus clouds in the Kinta area that caused landspouts to hit.

"The ones that occur in Malaysia are usually clouds that protrude from the base of the cumulonimbus cloud, like a cloud funnel, (and) that is what causes damage as the winds that extend downwards twist and turn," he said.

Ambun said it was challenging to predict landspouts as they tend to occur on a smaller scale and have short lifespans.

"Something as small as this has a short span, an hour at the most. Such a short time for observation makes it difficult to forecast, but we can monitor cumulonimbus clouds through radar images throughout Malaysia,” he said.

He added that among the early signs is the formation of large clouds with dark bases as well as cloud funnels that protrude downwards. – Bernama