KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 1 — The Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) has denied news reports claiming that temperatures in peninsular Malaysia are expected to drop to below 20°C in February.
In a statement, the department said that temperatures in Malaysia had increased by 1°C to 2°C last month from the average 22°C at dawn and 35°C in the evening, and expected it to remain the same throughout the first half of the year.
“MetMalaysia expects the situation to stay the same up until June 2016.
“In line with that, the minimum temperature is not expected to drop to 20°C throughout February 2016 as reported in the news,” said MetMalaysia.
The meteorological department also said the temperature increase was due to the early effects of a strong El Nino phenomenon that would cause a temperature hike of between 0.5°C and 2°C.
Malay-language daily Kosmo! reported today that states in the peninsula, especially Perak and Kelantan, would be experiencing temperatures as low as 20°C throughout February due to a build up of cold wind from the north pole. Similar reports on a cold Chinese New Year had also recently gone viral on social media.
