BMKG: July 2026 Declared Driest July in 35 Years

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has declared July 2026 as the driest July in Indonesia since 1991, or 35 years ago. The condition was triggered by the strengthening El Niño phenomenon and a positive Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD), which suppressed rainfall across the region. Acting Deputy for Climatology at BMKG, Fachri Radjab, explained that while June rainfall was ranked the eighth driest since 1991, July’s figures set a new record. “In July, it turned out that July 2026 became the driest July ranking first since 1991,” Fachri stated on Tuesday. He noted that the El Niño has now reached a strong category, while the positive IOD is also developing, both contributing to the reduction of rainfall. Fachri warned that El Niño still has a 75 percent chance of intensifying into a very strong category between August and October 2026, with the positive IOD also expected to strengthen further. “This is what we need to anticipate when these two phenomena are active, both on the eastern and western sides of Indonesia, and both have the potential to reduce rainfall during this dry season,” he said. BMKG analysis shows that almost all areas of Java, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, and East Nusa Tenggara experienced low to very low rainfall throughout July 2026. Similar conditions were observed in southern Sumatra, southern Kalimantan, parts of Sulawesi, Maluku, and Papua, excluding Central Papua and Highland Papua. The agency also recorded that drought is spreading. As of early August 2026, 306 monitoring stations reported extreme rainless days, defined as more than 60 consecutive days without rain. The longest dry spell was recorded in Bantul, Yogyakarta, which has seen 90 consecutive days without rain. Overall, BMKG noted 1,657 stations experiencing very long dry spells of 31 to 60 days, and another 322 stations recording long dry spells of 21 to 30 days.