BMKG: Rainfall in 2026 to be lower than the average over the last 30 years

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) predicts that the average rainfall during the 2026 dry season will be lower than the average over the past 30 years. “With average rainfall below normal compared to the dry season over the last 30 years, the rainfall conditions this year will be lower or below normal,” said BMKG Head Teuku Faisal Fathani during a press conference on the coordination meeting for forest and land fires in Jakarta on Monday. BMKG also predicts that the dry season this year will start earlier and last longer, beginning in April or May, with its peak in August. “The dry season will arrive sooner and be longer. We will enter the dry season starting in April or May, peaking in August, and then ending in September or early October,” said Teuku Faisal Fathani. “The El Niño we are monitoring is currently weak to moderate,” he added. The Forestry Ministry is partnering with BMKG to prevent forest and land fires during the dry season. One of the efforts involves rewetting peatlands using BMKG’s Weather Modification Operations (OMC). “We are carrying out preventive efforts, trying to rewet when we still have clouds that can be seeded, so that with seeding materials, rain occurs and can moisten the peatlands, thereby maximising the reduction in the potential for forest and land fires,” said Teuku Faisal Fathani.