KUALA LUMPUR, June 19 — The excessive rainfall recently, especially in the Klang Valley has been due to the impact of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) phenomenon, says an expert.
Climatology and Oceanography Specialist from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) Prof Dr Fredolin Tangang said the country was currently in the midst of the south-west monsoon season, and the weather should be hot and dry.
“The MJO phenomenon is part of climate variability between intra-seasons in tropical regions that oscillate with the frequency of once in 20 to 60 days, which occurs in eight phases.
“MJO occurs as a result of interaction between the ocean and the atmosphere, which causes a large-scale atmospheric convection system in the western part of the Indian Ocean which moves eastward across the Pacific Ocean, crossing Malaysia and Indonesia,” he told Bernama here.
He said this when asked to comment on the massive rainfall occurring in the Klang Valley in the late afternoons, including some unusual storms, of late.
In the meantime, Fredolin said through studies conducted, the south-west monsoon season between June to August has been found to yield higher rainfall in the west coast, compared to the east.
He said based on the report from the Climate Prediction Centre at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States, MJO would occur in the Indian Ocean with large-scale increase in atmospheric convection in the first week of this month, and was currently in phase three.
“This situation has led to the high rainfall rate currently experienced, similar to that in April and May, where the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia usually experiences rain in the afternoon, until late at night.
“However, this situation will only last for another one to two weeks, when the phenomenon moves more towards the east, and the centre of the convection passes our region,” he said.
He added that the country was expected to experience warmer and drier weather once MJO shifted eastwards, in phases four to seven of the phenomenon. — Bernama
