PETALING JAYA, Selangor – As the hot and dry season continues to affect Malaysia, more areas are being issued heatwave warnings, especially northern parts of Peninsular Malaysia.

Dams in these areas are also reaching water levels that would trigger warnings.

The Pokok Sena district in Kedah was issued a Level 2 heatwave warning on March 16, making it the second time the area has received the alert. The first was on Feb 28.

The state of Perlis was issued a Level 2 alert on March 15, which was reduced to Level 1 status a day later.

Level 1 warnings were also issued for Kuala Lumpur and parts of Kedah, Perak, Pahang and Selangor, according to an advisory by the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) at 4.30pm on March 16.

In Kedah, the areas given heatwave alerts were Padang Terap, Sik, Baling, Kuala Muda, Pendang and Kota Setar.

In Perak, Level 1 alerts were issued to Hulu Perak, Kuala Kangsar, Kinta and Kampar.

In Pahang, the locations affected were Raub, Temerloh and Bera.

Hulu Selangor in Selangor was also issued a Level 1 warning.

A Level 2 warning is given when temperatures hover between 37 deg C and 40 deg C over three consecutive days.

A Level 1 alert is issued when temperatures at a particular location are between 35 deg C and 37 deg C over the same number of days.

Checks on the National Water Services Commission’s war room site revealed that the water in dams in Perlis and Kedah was at warning levels.

In Perlis, the Timah Tasoh dam was at 59.72 per cent capacity. In Kedah, the Muda dam was at 47.8 per cent capacity, followed by the Padang Saga dam at 59.83 per cent and the Malut dam at 45.8 per cent.

Water levels at the Air Itam dam in Penang also recorded warning levels, as the dam was at 37.7 per cent capacity.

In Johor, the Sembrong Barat dam was at only 35.23 per cent capacity.

According to the drought monitoring report issued by MetMalaysia on March 13, most parts of the country recorded regular Standardised Precipitation Index readings.

Meanwhile, Chuping in Perlis, Kota Bharu in Kelantan, Sitiawan in Perak, and Melaka recorded moderately dry and very dry readings.

“However, no stations recorded rainfall deficits exceeding 35 per cent,” said the report.

“Monitoring will be carried out at a higher frequency so that any drought alerts can be issued as soon as possible.”

It said the Chuping meteorological station in Perlis recorded no rain in February, adding that the dry spell resulted in the highest temperature in Malaysia for the month at 37.9 deg C.

Other parts of Malaysia that recorded temperatures exceeding 36 deg C were Butterworth in Penang (37.5 deg C), Alor Setar (37.2 deg C) and Langkawi in Kedah (37 deg C), Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang (36.4 deg C), Subang in Selangor (36.1 deg C), and Temerloh in Pahang (36.1 deg C).

Meanwhile, several residents in Perlis said it had been more than a month since it last rained.

“Even when it does, it lasts only between five and 10 minutes. The humidity then makes the situation worse,” said a trader known only as Shahrizal.

Another resident, Ms Nur Shuhada, said she now does most of her chores in the living room.

“My two toddlers also sleep here now, as the heat in the room can be unbearable, even at night,” said the housewife.

Malaysia is at the tail end of the north-east monsoon, which is expected to end in March.

Hot and dry weather is expected during this period, with minimal rainfall, especially north of the peninsula.

In George Town, the Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) issued an alert after its water production reached maximum capacity on March 16.

“Be informed that PBAPP water production has reached its maximum,” the corporation said in a post on Facebook.

“However, due to high water consumption and a reduction in water levels, the pump houses along Sungai Ara, Batu Maung, Teluk Kumbar and South Seberang Perai will be affected.” THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK