Equinox phenomenon won’t lead to extreme hot weather

KUALA LUMPUR: The Equinox phenomenon, expected to be felt in Malaysia beg inning next week, will not lead to any extreme weather changes, says Meteorolog ical Department directorgeneral Datuk Che Gayah Ismail.

She said the situation would only cause an increase in temperature of between one or two degrees Celsius.

“However, this is still considered normal and does not have a major effect,” she told Bernama here yesterday.

She said this was a normal phenomenon when the Equinox occurred twice a year - March and September - when the sun was right above the Equator, where Malaysia was located.

“The Equinox does not have a major effect on temperature because temperature changes are inf luenced by such factors as wind movement, rain and others,” added Che Gayah when commenting on a media report on the phenomenon.

She said the current temperature i n Malaysia was between 33 to 35 degrees Celsius.

Meanwhile, Association of Water and Energy Research (AWER) president, S. Piarapakaran said the Selangor Water Management Authority (Luas) should monitor closely the water level in the dams, especially the Sungai Selangor Dam.

He said the warning for the critical water level should be raised from the current 30 per cent to 50.

He drew attention to the fact that the Sungai Selangor Dam supplied 60 per cent of water supply to Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Selangor.

“If the critical water level was 50 per cent, at least drastic action could be taken quickly to replenish the water level in the dams,” he said. – Bernama