‘Heavy rain caused by low-pressure area’
JOHOR BARU: The extraordinary amount of continuous rainfall in Penang and parts of Kedah since Saturday was caused by a lowpressure area in the two states.
Malaysian Meteorological Department (MMD) director-general Alui Bahari said the low-pressure area attracted strong winds and moisture, which resulted in heavy rain that led the department to issue a red alert warning in the two states on Saturday night.
“The extraordinary rainfall, which was continuous in Penang and parts of Kedah on Saturday and yesterday, was due to (a) lowpressure area. This area became a focal point for winds and high levels of moisture, which resulted in continuous heavy rain and strong winds.
“This low-pressure area had first taken shape in the South China Sea in the end of last month and it moved across southern Thailand before reaching Peninsular Malaysia on Saturday,” said Alui.
He said readings at MMD stations in the north showed high amount of rainfall that peaked on Saturday night.
He said areas, such as Prai, recorded 225.6mm of rainfall on Saturday, which was higher than the 5.6mm of rain recorded in the same area the previous day.
The rain in Prai decreased to 73.4mm at 11am yesterday.
Heavy rain also occurred on Saturday in Butterworth (233mm), Bayan Lepas (174.5mm), Alor Star (41.4mm) and Chuping (39.6mm) in Perlis.
Explaining the recent weather patterns, Alui said the MMD issued warnings of heavy rain for the past five days, and the information had been channelled to the National Disaster Management Agency, other agencies and disseminated via its Facebook page and website.
The MMD issued a yellow alert for heavy rain on Wednesday involving Kelantan, Terengganu, Perak, Perlis, Kedah and Penang.
“Continuous rain occurred on Thursday and Friday in Kelantan, Terengganu and it moved to Perlis, Kedah and Penang on Saturday.
“As heavy rain continued, the warning was upgraded to orange alert on Saturday evening for Perlis, Perak, Kedah and Penang.
“In the early part of last night (Saturday), increasing heavy rain led to the MMD issuing a red alert for Penang and parts of Kedah.
“Until this morning (yesterday), rain is expected to continue until tonight (yesterday) in the north.
“The category of heavy rain was reduced to orange alert because of a weakened low-pressure area,” said Alui.
He said cloudy and intermittent rain was forecast for the northern peninsular states today, and the condition was only expected to improve tomorrow.