Rain predicted to start early next month
JAKARTA (JP): The National Meteorology and Geophysics Agency forecast yesterday that the rain will start falling in Jakarta between the second week of next month and the beginning of December, an official said.
The head of the agency, Sri Diharto, told The Jakarta Post that the latest forecast was two to four weeks later than an earlier prediction because of the continuing effects of the El Nio phenomenon.
"El Nio causes a periodic warming of the water's surface in the Pacific Ocean," Diharto said.
Combined with its atmospheric partner, the Southern Oscillation, El Nio affects temperature and rainfall patterns throughout the world.
"El Nio is also affecting Indonesia because it is an archipelagic country near the equator and it has lots of volcanoes.
"It makes us prone to weather changes because there are always trade winds and certain climatic conditions. So every change here depends on what is going on outside Indonesia, and vice versa," he said.
Diharto warned people living in Jakarta to prepare for the coming rainy season.
"The heavy rain will only begin in December and it usually lasts until March."
He said the heaviest rain would be in January and probably cause widespread flooding in the city.
"The average monthly rainfall will reach about 300 millimeters."
The agency also warned the city administration and other related agencies to prepare for the monsoon by cleaning up their environment and installing waste water injection shafts.
"Because of the prolonged dry season, many green areas have dried up and the soil has corrugated. The land is so barren that the water cannot be absorbed so if we are hit by heavy rain it will cause flooding."
Diharto said his agency had issued the warning in newspapers and on television.
"We are trying our best to provide people with the latest data through the Forecasting Now program. But it is difficult because the media ask us to pay a very high price to publicize the information."
He rejected the controversial report by the World Climate Research Program, which predicted that rain will not fall in Indonesia until next April.
"That is crazy. The report has not been confirmed yet," he said. "In fact, in Aceh, East Kalimantan and Irian Jaya, there has already been heavy rain. So how can they say that?"
In a related development, Diharto said forest fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra were not to blame for the city's haze.
"Based on a report from our stations, the haze that has been covering the city since the SEA Games has come from forest fires in Central Java and East Java.
However, the haze above Jakarta is thin and it is about 2,000 meters above the ground.
"So there is no need to worry about it too much," he said. (07)