KUCHING, Sept 3 — The La Nina phenomenon will not impact Sarawak very much even though it is occurring now in the region surrounding Malaysia, said the State Meteorology Department.
“At this moment the effect of La Nina is insignificant to Sarawak. Its strength is not really felt in our region,” said its director Khairul Najib.
Weather conditions are expected to be humid particularly in the north and west of Sarawak until the end of the year.
“La Nina is the large-scale cooling of surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, normally occurring every two to seven years.
“Triple-dip La Nina effect means to have three consecutive years with La Nina (2020-2022),” he explained, adding that La Nina, which could bring heavy rainfall, has a 62 to 66 per cent chance of continuing in Malaysia until December 2022.
The current La Nina — cooling of surface temperatures which can cause widespread impacts on global weather conditions — had started in September 2020.
On August 31 in Geneva, AFP quoted the United Nations’ World Meteorological Organisation (UNWMO) as saying the La Nina weather phenomenon is likely to last until at least the end of this year.
The UNWMO has said the phenomenon is becoming the first ‘triple-dip’ La Nina this century. It will likely span three consecutive northern hemisphere winters — southern hemisphere summers, the third time this has happened since 1950. — Borneo Post Online
