Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency Issues Extreme Weather Warning During Christmas and New Year Holiday

SEAToday.com, Jakarta - The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) issued an early warning of extreme weather in the form of a 20 percent increase in rainfall which is expected to hit a number of areas during the Christmas 2024 and New Year 2025 periods.

“Extreme weather is expected to potentially occur until March-April 2025, influenced by the weak La Nina phenomenon which can increase rainfall by 20 percent,” BMKG Head Dwikorita Karnawati said in a statement through the BMKG website in Jakarta, Sunday..

She said atmospheric dynamics, such as the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) and the potential for cold surges moving from mainland Asia (Siberia) towards western Indonesia, are also projected to be active during the Christmas and New Year holiday period.

“These two phenomena have the potential to increase the intensity and volume of rainfall in various parts of Indonesia, although the scale and impact still require further monitoring,” she said.

Dwikorita said that based on a survey conducted by the Ministry of Transportation, it is predicted that there will be 110.67 million people who will travel for the Christmas and New Year holiday season 2024/2025.

“The majority of these travelers use private vehicles such as cars and motorcycles so they are very vulnerable to extreme weather on their journey,” she said.

BMKG continues to monitor this condition closely and convey the latest information to support anticipatory steps and reduce risks in the field.

He said weather early warnings will be delivered every week and repeated three days before the event, even up to three hours before the extreme weather event.

The BMKG mobile application also provides a Digital Weather for Traffic (DWT) feature. The service can be used by travelers to check weather information on the route of homecoming.

“Users can access early warning information, land route weather, travel route weather, airport weather, port weather, crossing weather, to flight and wave information,” he said.