It's sweater and umbrella time in Malaysia as temperature stays low due to monsoon

PETALING JAYA (THE STAR/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - Malaysia will be a cool place to be in for the next week or so - literally.

Temperatures are expected to stay low until sometime next week due to cold surges as a result of the north-east monsoon.

Universiti Malaya's Professor Azizan Abu Samah said the country is entering the tail end of the monsoon, which is expected to end in March.

The cold surges will bring a drop in temperature of between 2 and 3 deg C as the winds originate from Siberia, which is now experiencing temperatures of minus 25 deg C.

Temperatures on Friday (Feb 11) morning ranged from 22 deg C in Kluang to 27 deg C on Pulau Langkawi, according to the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) website.

"We can expect cool and wet weather conditions until the current surge ends sometime next week. This will then result in clearer skies, but thunderstorms can still occur," Prof Azizan said.

But the lack of daytime cloud cover as a result of the north-east monsoon could also see areas such as Chuping in Perlis recording a maximum daytime temperature of 38 deg C or more, he said.

"The occurrence of cold surges will also tend to increase the wind speed over the South China Sea and can produce waves of between 2m and 3m high, which can be dangerous to smaller fishing boats," he added.

MetMalaysia said humid weather conditions are forecast especially for states on the East Coast.

MetMalaysia director-general Muhammad Helmi Abdullah said there is also a high potential of thunderstorms occurring across states such as Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Johor until mid-February.

"There is also a high possibility of thunderstorms in West Coast states such as Selangor, Perak and Melaka, with heavy rains and strong winds," he said.

He added that humid weather conditions are also expected in Sabah and Sarawak until March but the northern states of Perlis, Kedah and Penang are likely to stay dry.

Meanwhile, extreme weather and lightning expert Hartono Zainal Abidin said the possibility of widespread thunderstorms and incidents of lightning or freak storms could not be ruled out due to the inter-monsoon period, which has arrived earlier this year.

"The strength and duration of these freak storms, however, depend on how high the cumulonimbus clouds are," he said.

Mr Hartono said it is nearly impossible to forecast exactly where and when these phenomena would occur, citing recent occurrences of freak storms and winds in Ipoh and Penang.

"The public should be wary when there are dark clouds, which are usually associated with thunderstorms. Just like lightning, these freak storms can take place before rain falls," he said.

Meanwhile, Universiti Sains Malaysia's Environmental Technology division head and atmospheric physicist Yusri Yusup said the recent weather conditions are not out of the ordinary.

"In the larger scheme of things, based on past years, this is an annual occurrence. The weather will be dry, and then a bit wetter during this period," said Associate Professor Yusri.

"It is not out of the ordinary when we look at the bigger perspective of yearly data."

Prof Yusri said that as March draws nearer, the transitional monsoon period between the north-east and south-west monsoons will happen, yielding unpredictable thunderstorms.

"The transitional monsoon is in March and April and the south-west monsoon begins in May. Looking at wind patterns during the transitional monsoon, winds are low in speed and so the clouds will linger, giving more rain," he said.

MetMalaysia, in a statement on Tuesday, said that weak La Nina conditions (cooling of ocean surface temperatures) are present and will continue with a probability of 67 per cent until March.

"Weather conditions in the peninsula and Sabah and Sarawak are expected to be humid throughout the forecasted period," it said.