El Nino unlikely to strike Indonesia: Expert

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia is unlikely to experience fallout from weather changes caused by El Nino in the near future, a meteorology official said yesterday.

American news services reported yesterday the possible formation of El Nino in the Pacific Ocean. But the head of the Meteorology Forecast Department in the Meteorology and Geophysics Bureau, Widodo, said Indonesia would escape effects of the unusual weather system, which causes a rise in water temperatures in the Pacific and shifts global winds and rain patterns.

Widodo said his office had not noticed any marked changes in weather patterns, including a rise in temperature of the Pacific.

"We won't announce the coming of El Nino because there will be an international announcement from the U.S. We will announce any impacts here but up to now any signs are insufficient."

Widodo said El Nino, which translates from Spanish as little boy, usually occurs every three to six years.

The impact on Indonesia often includes a severe dry season. Widodo said this causes reduced harvests and scarcity of water resources.

Widodo said a storm system which recently battered Sumatra, especially northwest Aceh, was unrelated to El Nino.

The storm also caused heavy winds and rain along the west coast of Sumatra.

"We first detected the storm on May 13, but I think it will last for only four to five days," he said.

His office had earlier announced another storm, named Rhonda, which hit western Sumatra and western and southern Java.

"We have indications that the storm system will weaken within a few weeks."

AP reported yesterday that North American scientists forecast a return of El Nino.

The news agency quoted government weather researchers in Washington, D.C. as saying that conditions in the tropical Pacific Ocean in recent months indicated a return of El Nino.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported yesterday "the evolution of the atmospheric and oceanic conditions in the tropical Pacific during the past few months are early indications of warm episode conditions".

For Americans, El Nino means storm and flooding on the West coast, summer heat waves in the Midwest and a decline in hurricanes in Southeast, the news agency said.

Impacts in other nations have included drought and wildfires in Australia and Indonesia. (12)