BMKG Issues Warning for 10 Districts in NTB as Drought and El Niño Intensify

The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has urged residents of West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) to conserve clean water in anticipation of the worsening impacts of drought during the dry season. Cakra Mahasurya, a forecaster at the NTB Climatology Station in Mataram, stated that the number of areas on alert status due to extended days without rain is expanding. “We hope the public will use water wisely to anticipate a clean water crisis,” he said on Monday (13/7/2026). BMKG has declared a meteorological drought alert for ten districts across six regencies: Gerung and Lembar in West Lombok Regency, Praya Barat and Pujut in Central Lombok Regency, Jerowaru in East Lombok Regency, Lenangguar and Moyohulu in Sumbawa Regency, Dompu in Dompu Regency, and Soromandi and Tambora in Bima Regency. Monitoring of rainfall during the first ten-day period of July 2026 showed that NTB generally experienced low rainfall, ranging from 0 to 10 millimetres per period. The highest recorded rainfall was just 5 millimetres at the Lambu rain post in Bima Regency. The duration of days without rain varied from very short to very long, with the longest dry spell reaching 53 days, recorded by the Belo and Bolo rain posts in Bima Regency. Cakra confirmed that all areas of West Nusa Tenggara have officially entered the dry season, a condition reinforced by the El Niño phenomenon. Meanwhile, monitoring of the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) currently shows a neutral category with an index of -0.36, with a chance of shifting to positive from August to December 2026. Sea surface temperature anomalies in the Nino3.4 region indicate that ENSO is in an El Niño category with an index of +1.69 and is predicted to strengthen from the middle of this year. He concluded by urging the public not to burn rubbish carelessly or leave fire sources unattended to prevent forest, land, and residential fires.