PETALING JAYA: Lower rainfall has been forecast in various parts of the peninsula and Sarawak as Malaysia transitions into the southwest monsoon, says the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia).
It said the southwest monsoon was predicted to begin in the middle of this month and would last until September.
The current intermonsoon, which began on March 23, was predicted to end soon, the department said.
“Thunderstorms and heavy rain will be less frequent during the southwest monsoon with most states expected to experience more days without rain,” the department said in a recent statement.
According to a MetMalaysia forecast, there is a 62% probability of the El Nino phenomenon to set in sometime from May to July.
This comes after the La Nina phenomenon ended earlier this year.
An El Nino (“the boy” in Spanish) will lead to the surface of the tropical Pacific Ocean getting warmer than usual, especially at the equator.
La Nina (“the girl”) leads to a cooling of seawater.
During the El Nino in 1998 and 2016, parts of Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore were blanketed by thick haze due to hundreds of peat soil fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan, Indonesia.
On the weather outlook from May until September, MetMalaysia said most parts of Peninsular Malaysia were expected to receive slightly below average rainfall in June, except for Perlis, Kedah, Penang, northern Perak, Kelantan and Terengganu.
Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Negri Sembilan, Melaka and Johor, meanwhile, are expected to receive lesser rainfall in July and August.
Johor was also predicted to receive below average rainfall this month and in September.
Kuching, Samarahan, Sri Aman and Betong in Sarawak would likely receive below average rainfall from May to September whereas lesser rainfall was also expected in Sarikei, Sibu and Kapit from July to September.
