Rain, rain, go away: A worker at fruit farm in Kota Tinggi, Johor, inspecting a rose apple tree. The heavy rains recently have inundated the farm, leaving many trees affected by flood damage. — Bernama
PETALING JAYA: Malaysians should take advantage of the cooler weather until at least the end of this month before hot and dry conditions set in, say experts.
According to weather forecasts, some areas in Malaysia could record temperatures as low as 23ºC until next Monday due to gloomy weather conditions and continuous rains over the past few days.
Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) director-general Muhammad Helmi Abdullah said the current weather conditions were in tandem with the blocking of the sun’s rays by rain clouds, resulting in a drop in overall surface temperatures.
He said colder weather would be felt throughout the country, with temperatures ranging from 26ºC to 30ºC in Peninsular Malaysia and 28ºC to 32ºC in Sabah and Sarawak.
Usual Malaysian temperatures are between 32ºC and 34ºC, he said.
“The current monsoon surge is expected to last until Jan 30, which can see chilly weather conditions persist until then due to continuous rains throughout the east coast of the peninsula during this period,” he said in an interview yesterday.
Helmi added that the northeast monsoon currently experienced in Malaysia was forecast to continue until March this year.
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Earth Sciences and Environment Department chairman Prof Fredolin Tangang said an inter-monsoon period would follow from April to May after the northeast monsoon.
“The inter-monsoon period can also see wetter conditions for most of the western parts of the peninsula compared to the northeast monsoon,” he said.
“However, the period from June until August will see the impending southwest monsoon, which brings about drier and hotter weather conditions,” he added.
Universiti Malaya climate expert Prof Datuk Dr Azizan Abu Samah said the temperature was influenced by the amount of solar radiation and wind in the atmosphere.
“The role of clouds is to moderate the heating caused by solar radiation during the day while trapping long wave radiations in the night.
Prof Azizan also noted the wind chill factor, where breezes could facilitate more evaporation and heat transfer, resulting in lower temperatures.
“Cloudy daytime conditions along with extra winds during cold surges can also see maximum daytime temperatures hovering between 27ºC and 28ºC,” he said.
Meanwhile, extreme weather and lightning expert Hartono Zainal Abidin said the heavy rains in Johor could have been caused by a large, slow-rotating wind system that prevented the monsoon rain from moving westward.
