BMKG Warns of Drier Dry Season This Year

Yogyakarta (Antara) - Indonesia's dry season this year will be drier than last year due to the El Nino weather phenomenon, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) office in Yogyakarta province warned. "The dry season has begun this month. This year's dry season will be drier. The government and farmers should make preparations for it," chief of the BMKG office's data and information section Tony Agus Wijaya said here on Tuesday. The El Nino heat waves that swept the Indonesian territory during this year's dry season would reduce rainfalls by up to 15 percent as compared to the previous year, he said. "During the dry season there will still be rains. But their intensity this year will decline because of the El Nino weather phenomenon," he said. In Yogyakarta, rains might still fall at evening or night with light-to-medium intensity, while air temperature at noon would remain high, he said. Based on the monitoring conducted by the BMKG office, air temperature might reach 33 degrees celcius at noon and a minimum of 24 degrees celcius at night. "In general, this year's dry season will be normal. The dry season will peak in August and end in October," he said. (*) Reporting by Eka Arifa Rusqiyati