There is no Danger of El Nino Yet in Indonesian

Jakarta (Antara) - The Meteorology and Geophysics (BMKG) office said there has been no signs of the weather phenomenon El Nino to wreak havoc in Indonesia. The index of Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) and the trade winds gave no indication that El Nino would storm across the country this year. Supari, a climatologist from the BMKG office said here on Monday El Nino will hit after there are three indications -- dynamic condition in Indonesia, condition of Southeast trade wind and SOI index. "So far there are only SOI index and trade wind has not contributed to indication of El Nino hitting the country," Supari said. El Nino is not a storm, he said, adding it is a natural phenomenon. El Nino is marked with an increase in the temperature on the sea surface around the Pacific and along eastern equatorial line, and it is not visible. He said the SOI index in Indonesia is still in the moderate level for the El Nino phenomenon. He predicted the impact of El Nino would be felt in July-August 2014, but only when the intensity is strong as the temperature in the country's waters will determine rainfall. "El Nino will have devastating impact if the intensity is strong and the Indonesian waters would be cold," he said. He said El Nino, which is relatively weak will hit Indonesia only in the eastern region including Papua, Maluku, West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara. He said there is little possibility of forest fires triggered by El Nino this year as the El Nino is weak and there is enough rainfall. It is different with one in 1997, when El Nino was relatively strong causing the air dry with little rainfall. Under such condition dry vegetation would be easily hit by fire, he said (*)