Why Is It So Cold Lately? Here’s What The Met Department Has To Say
Brrr.
By John Lim — 12 Jan 2018, 01:25 PM
The current weather in Malaysia is a far cry from last October's scorching heatwaves. It’s so cold that even our prime minister tweeted about it:
Najib was in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia for a five-day working visit.
Our cat-loving PM isn't the only one to notice this sudden shift in weather though
Offices are freezing, umbrella sales are going great, and Malaysians can finally layer up without being asked: "Eh, you not hot ah?"
Explaining the unusually cool weather, the Malaysian Meteorological Department (METMalaysia) said that the inclement weather is caused by continuous rain in certain parts of Malaysia
"At the moment, the weather is quite cold in the northern part of Peninsular due to heavy rainfall since Thursday, 11 January. The rain is expected to continue until midnight," said METMalaysia director-general Alui Bahari as quoted by Astro Awani.
He added that temperatures will return to normal on Friday, 12 January.
Alui said it is not uncommon for the temperature to decrease to 20 degrees Celsius in Malaysia. In fact, there have been occasions where it dropped to 15.7 degrees Celsius.
Apart from rainfall, Alui explained that the northeast wind contributes to weather change in the country as well.
"Temperatures had dropped to 18 degrees Celsius in Perlis, Kedah, and Kuala Krai a few years ago. It occurred in January and February when the northeast wind is blowing."
It's not just Malaysia that's feeling the chill. Our neighbour across the Causeway has been experiencing heavy rainfall that caused flash floods at certain parts of the city-state.
According to The Straits Times, flash floods occurred at nine locations in eastern Singapore on Monday, 8 January.
Widespread rainfall fell over Singapore that morning, with the heaviest rainfall of 118.8mm recorded at the Kim Chuan Road rain gauge.
The flash floods lasted 15 minutes to an hour.