By Mohd Iswandi Kasan Anuar
JAKARTA, Jan 11 (NNN-Bernama) — ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) expects wetter conditions over central parts of the region’s maritime continent for the coming week.
The maritime continent comprises the archipelagos of Indonesia, Borneo, New Guinea, the Philippine Islands, Peninsular Malaysia and the surrounding seas.
Drier conditions are likely over Peninsular Malaysia, southern Vietnam, and much of the northern Philippines and surrounding area, the centre said in its weekly disaster update.
There is a small increase in chance for a very heavy rainfall event to occur in Western Borneo and Java Island, while a small increase in chance for extended dry conditions to occur in southern Thailand, southern Vietnam, and northern Philippines.
“Moderate increase in chance for extreme hot conditions to occur in the parts of Myanmar.
“La Niña conditions are still present in the Pacific. At the seasonal timescale, La Niña events bring wetter conditions to much of the ASEAN region,” the centre said.
For the first week of 2022, 30 disasters comprising 22 floods, three landslides and five wind-related, affected the region, particularly Indonesia and Malaysia.
Indonesia’s National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) reported heavy rainfall causing floods, rain-induced landslides, and tornado in Sumatra, Java, Nusa Tenggara, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Maluku, and Papua.
Similarly, Malaysia’s National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) reported floods occurred in the state of Melaka, Johor, and Pahang.
For the past week, AMC’s data showed high seven-day average rainfall spreading across Papua, Sulawesi, Kalimantan, and southern parts of Sumatra, and northern parts of West Java, Indonesia and Sarawak and Peninsular Malaysia.
— NNN-BERNAMA