There is Increasing Hot Weather, but Still the Potential for Rain

Even though the seasons are changing, several areas still have the potential to experience light to heavy rain.

KOMPAS/FERGANATA INDRA RIATMOKO

A satay seller protects his head with cloth during hot weather in the Kraton District, Yogyakarta, on Saturday (4/5/2024). The temperature in Yogyakarta during the daytime in recent days has been around 32 degrees Celsius.

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Over the past week, a number of regions in Indonesia have experienced an increase in hot weather. This is not due to a heat wave, but rather the impact of the transition from the rainy season to the dry season. However, several areas have the potential to experience light to heavy rain.

Deputy for Meteorology at the Meteorological Agency, Climatology, and Geophysics (BMKG) Guswanto stated that BMKG analysis regarding hot temperatures in Indonesian territory shows that this condition is a daily hot phenomenon due to the apparent movement of the sun.

"Apart from that, conditions in Indonesia are experiencing a transition season and several regions are already experiencing dry season. "This causes maximum sunlight to occur due to the lack of cloud cover," he said, Tuesday (7/5/2024).

According to Guswanto, in general in the last few weeks the air temperature in Indonesia has remained in the normal or reasonable category. The maximum air temperature on Monday (6/5/2024) reached 36 degrees Celsius recorded at the MKG Region II Tangerang Center and 35.8degrees Celsius recorded at the Deli Serdang Geophysical Station, North Sumatra.

The condition of Indonesia is experiencing a transition season and several regions are already experiencing a dry season.

Even though there is a transition of seasons happening right now, several regions in Indonesia still have the potential to experience rain ranging from light to heavy. Heavy rain accompanied by strong winds must be anticipated because it can cause hydro meteorological disasters, such as floods and landslides.

KOMPAS/HENDRA A SETYAWAN

Motorcyclists take shelter during heavy rain in the Pondok Benda area, South Tangerang, Banten, on Wednesday (1/5/2024). The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency stated that the El Nino phenomenon is potentially being replaced by La Nina.

Several regions that are still potentially experiencing light to heavy rainfall include Aceh, North Sumatra, West Sumatra, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Java, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, and South Kalimantan.

Next, other regions include Bengkulu, Gorontalo, Central Sulawesi, South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, North Maluku, Maluku, West Papua, Southwest Papua, Papua, Central Papua, Papua Mountains, and South Papua.

The analysis from BMKG also shows that as of early May 2024, only 8 percent of Indonesia's total areas (56 Seasonal Zones or Zoms) have entered the dry season. Meanwhile, around 76 percent of Indonesia's other areas (530 Zoms) are still in the rainy season period.

Also read: 2024 will be hotter

Heat wave

Head of the BMKG Agency, Dwikorita Karnawati, in a written statement said that a heat wave was hitting various Asian countries, such as Thailand, with a maximum temperature reaching 52 degrees Celsius. However, the hot weather that has occurred in Indonesia recently is not the result of a heat wave.

Referring to the explanation from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), a heat wave is a phenomenon of prolonged hot air conditions for five consecutive days or more. During a heat wave, the daily maximum temperature is higher than the average maximum temperature by up to 5 degrees or more. This phenomenon generally occurs in middle to high latitude regions, such as in Europe, America, and some parts of Asia.

Dwikorita explained that maritime conditions around Indonesia with warm seas and mountainous topography resulted in increased air movement. This allows for a buffer or buffer extreme temperature increases with lots of rain that periodically cools the surface.

"This is what causes heat waves to not occur in the Indonesian archipelago," he said.

Also read: Scorching Hot Weather in Yogyakarta

According to Dwikorita, the hot temperature is a result of surface heating due to the decreasing formation of clouds and rainfall. This hot temperature is something that commonly occurs during the transition period from rainy season to dry season.

"This transition period is generally characterized by bright mornings, scorching afternoons with rapid cloud growth accompanied by an increase in air temperature. Then, there will be rain in the afternoon towards the evening or in the evening towards the night," he explained.