Expect more rain until January, says weatherman

PETALING JAYA: The start of the northeast monsoon today will bring more rain to the east coast of the peninsula and parts of Sabah and Sarawak.

The wet season is expected to last until January.

Met Malaysia director-general Alui Bahari said the northeastern winds from the South China Sea will mark the start of the monsoon season.

“Right now, the winds are still from the southwest, they are variable, but by tomorrow, they will persist from the northeast,” said Alui when contacted yesterday.

States on the west coast could expect thunderstorms by this afternoon, and Alui said states in the north-eastern coast could also expect rain once the new wind pattern persists.

He said an episode would range between three and four days of moderate to heavy rain.

This monsoon season is expected to see four to five such episodes.

Met Malaysia has its own colour coding for rainfall, with yellow indicating heavy rain is expected within the next one to three days, and if there is continuous rain, it will not last for more than six hours and the rainfall will be less than 60mm.

Meanwhile, orange indicates continuous heavy rain that will exceed six hours and rainfall collection of at least 60mm while red shows continuous heavy rain exceeding 240mm a day.

Alui said the department would also be monitoring wind speeds and wave heights, as monsoon winds could whip up waves.

For the day’s weather forecast, log on to www. met. gov. my/ in/ web/ metmalaysia/ forecasts/general/country.