BMGM Warns NTB Residents to Prepare for Peak Dry Season

Mataram (ANTARA) - The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has urged residents of West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) to prepare for the peak of the dry season, which is predicted to occur in August 2026.

Ari Wibianto, Head of the Observation, Data, and Information Working Group at the Zainuddin Abdul Madjid (ZAM) Meteorological Station, appealed to the public to use water wisely and avoid lighting fires carelessly in open areas. “The peak of the dry season is predicted to occur in August 2026 across almost all of NTB (89 to 90 percent of the region),” he said when contacted in Mataram on Wednesday.

BMKG noted that several areas in NTB have already experienced more than 60 consecutive days without rain. This extreme drought condition is continuing to expand as the dry season progresses. Ari explained that the strengthening Australian monsoon is causing dry air masses to enter Indonesian territory, thereby affecting the rate of cloud formation.

By the end of July 2026, BMKG predicts the chance of rain on Lombok Island will be very low, at less than 10 to 20 percent. Meanwhile, on Sumbawa Island, the probability of rainfall exceeding 20 millimetres per ten-day period ranges from 10 to 60 percent, particularly in the southern regions.

The NTB provincial government has prepared several strategies to face this year’s prolonged dry season, including optimising boreholes with pumped irrigation systems to water agricultural lands. The local Agriculture and Plantation Office has also asked farmers to accelerate their planting schedules and adjust crop types according to weather conditions to avoid losses from harvest failure.