Malaysia: Triple whammy as haze hits the Klang Valley

The Star 4 Mar 13;

PETALING JAYA: First, it was weeks of a dry spell. Then came the water shortage. Now, Klang Valley residents have to contend with the haze as well.

Despite a brief shower in the evening, yesterday’s air pollutant index (API) reading shot up to unhealthy levels in five places in the Klang Valley with Port Klang registering 136 (API of 100 to 200 is categorised as unhealthy) at 6pm.

The other places include Serem­ban (112) in Negri Sembilan, Shah Alam (101) and Banting (117) in Selangor while Seri Manjung, Perak, recorded 109.

According to the Department of Environment (DOE) website, several areas registered moderate air quality (API 51 to 100) as at 6pm. They were Batu Muda (92) in Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya (100) and Kuala Selangor (98) in Selangor.

Other states that recorded moderate to unhealthy air readings included Taiping (100) and Ipoh (83) in Perak, and in Muar, Johor (97), Prai in Penang (94), and Sungai Petani, Kedah (99).

Meteorological Department national weather centre director Muhammad Helmi Abdullah said it was not unusual for parts of Malaysia to experience hazy conditions during this time of the year, as it was the dry season due to the end of the north-east monsoon season.

He said, however, that this year’s haze was worse than last year’s and attributed it to open burning, forest fires and peat fires.

“The haze has nothing to do with our neighbours. It is not transboundary haze but our own doing,” he said.

He also said there was neither sufficient rain nor strong winds to help clear or disperse haze particles during long periods of dry weather.

In a statement yesterday, the DOE stated that the current moderate haze that the country is experiencing is due to land and forest fires in several states including Selangor, Perak, Pahang, Johor, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu.

The department said that the current hot and dry weather conditions caused suspended dust particles to accumulate in the air, which resulted in haze.

Additionally, the department noted that various pollutant sources such as industrial emissions, motor vehicles and earthworks contributed to the increasing API levels.

The DOE said the peninsula is not expected to receive much rain until mid-March.

“However, rain and thunderstorms can occur in the afternoon and early evening in the interior of Perak, Selangor and Pahang,” it said.

Based on the daily weather forecasts by the Meteorological Depart-ment, the possibility of peninsular Malaysia being hit by transboundary haze is currently low due to the wind patterns.

Operation to induce rainfall provides break from heat and haze in Selangor
isabelle lai, g. surach, tashny sukumaran, austin camoens, karen chapman, priya menon, florence a. samy, ong han sean, AND sarban singh
The Star 4 Mar 14;


PETALING JAYA: The Meteorological Department’s cloud seeding operation over Selangor brought a brief break from the stifling heat and choking haze.

The department’s national weather centre director Muhammad Helmi Abdullah said yesterday’s operation was to induce rainfall over dams and water catchment areas.

He said cloud seeding had also been planned over parts of Malacca, Negeri Sembilan and Johor but there were not enough clouds there.

“We target rain clouds over or near dams and water catchment areas,” he told The Star.

“Even if the clouds are not directly above the areas, we expect the winds to carry them towards these places.”

Muhammad Helmi said the evening operation was a success because it brought about rainfall in several areas but until late yesterday it was not known if the rain was enough to raise water levels at the dams.

Muhammad Helmi said the operation was led by the department’s atmospheric science and cloud seeding division, using a Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) aircraft carrying four 1,000-litre tanks of water containing 150kg of salt each.

He said the division identified suitable conditions for cloud seeding, based on Sunday’s weather forecast and alerted RMAF to be on standby.

Another round of cloud seeding would be done today provided weather conditions were suitable.

Explaining the process, he said, cloud seeding was a method of inducing rain, and not making rain.

“Salt solution is sprayed at the base of the identified clouds. The particles will be carried upwards by thermals or upward currents of warm air.

“This will form water vapour that will grow in size as it moves upwards until they grow heavy and fall down as rain.

“Through cloud seeding, we are actually accelerating the process of rainfall production as well as increasing the amount of rainfall.

“It takes between 15 minutes to half an hour for rain to fall after the solution has been sprayed,” he added.

Muhammad Helmi said there was a “very narrow window of opportunity” over the past week as the weather conditions kept fluctuating.

He said the winds were also stronger, resulting in low chances of rain clouds being formed.

In SEREMBAN, a downpour in several areas in the state over the weekend brought some relief but did little to replenish supply in the four major dams.

Checks with Syarikat Air Negri Sembilan showed that levels at the Sg Terip, Kelinchi, Talang and Gemencheh dams remained at near critical levels.

The level at the Sg Terip dam, which supplies treated water to households here, was at 100.12m, about six metres above the 94.6m critical mark.

As for the Kelinchi dam, it was at 199.1m (critical level 198.3m) while Talang was at 148.45m (140.5m) and Gemencheh at 99.66m (98m).

All households in the state, however, have continued to receive supply.

It's raining, it's pouring ... cloud seeding does its part
isabelle lai The Star 3 Mar 14;

PETALING JAYA: Klang Valley residents heaved a sigh of relief Monday evening. The Meteorological Department confirmed that the rain which fell over several areas in Selangor was due in part to a successful cloud seeding operation.

Its national weather centre director Muhammad Helmi Abdullah said the operation was a success in Selangor.

“We had already foreseen that Selangor is a good candidate for the operation,” he told The Star.

Muhammad Helmi said the Selangor operation was led by the department’s atmospheric science and cloud seeding division, with a TUDM aircraft used to transport four 1,000-litre tanks of water containing 150kg of salt each.

Although the department planned to carry out the operation in Negri Sembilan, Malacca and Johor as well, he said it had to be cancelled at the last minute due to the lack of suitable clouds.

Muhammad Helmi explained that cloud seeding was a process of inducing rain, not making rain, as the formation of moisture-laden towering cumulus clouds meant that rain would happen eventually.

He said optimal conditions for cloud seeding included the need for light and variable winds, which were conducive for the formation of such rain clouds.

“In the past week, weather conditions kept fluctuating and there was a very narrow window of opportunity. The winds were also stronger last week, meaning a low chance of rain clouds forming,” he explained.

He said that the salt solution was sprayed at the base of the identified clouds, adding that the salt particles would be carried upwards by thermals, which are upward currents of warm air.

He said this would form water vapour that would grow in size as they moved upwards, until they grew so heavy that they would then fall down as rain.

“Through cloud seeding, we are actually accelerating the process of rainfall production as well as increasing the amount of rainfall. We estimate it will take 15 minutes to half an hour for rain to fall after the solution is sprayed,” he said.

Muhammad Helmi expressed confidence that the rain would fall in the targeted areas, but said he was unable to predict how much it would increase water levels in the dams as the amount of rainfall depended on factors influencing each individual cloud.

The rain was a welcome sight for many people as Ong Kian Ming @imokman tweeted: Raining heavily in Bangsar... yippee!!!

SGobikrishnan said: Hujan lebat di KL...best pic.twitter.com/yQhHhUaedr

Alhamdulillah. Hujan lebat. Syukur, said ADIBAH NOOR @adibahnoor while Nurul Izzah @n_izzah
rewteeted: “@imokman: Raining heavily in Bangsar... yippee!!!” Whatchu doing in my kawasan? Ahems hehe

Since Sunday, over two million people in Petaling Jaya, Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur are enduring a month-long water rationing exercise, with two days of supply followed by two days of dry taps.

It involves 431,617 households and businesses in the districts of Gombak, Kuala Lumpur, Petaling, Klang, Shah Alam, Kuala Selangor and Hulu Selangor.

Cloud seeding to kick off in Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Malacca and Johor
isabelle lai The Star 3 Mar 14;

PETALING JAYA: The Meteorological Department will kick off a cloud seeding operation on Monday evening, which is hoped to provide some much needed rainfall over dams in Selangor, Negri Sembilan, Malacca and Johor.

Its national weather centre director Muhammad Helmi Abdullah said the operation would be targeted on rainclouds over or near major dams and water catchment areas.

“Even if the clouds are not directly above the targeted areas, we expect the winds will carry them towards the areas,” he told The Star, adding that the operation was expected to take around four hours.

Muhammad Helmi said they had identified suitable conditions for cloud seeding based on Sunday’s weather forecast, adding that they had then informed the Royal Malaysian Air Force (TUDM) to be on standby. He added that the department may conduct another round of cloud seeding on Tuesday.

He said optimal conditions for cloud seeding included the need for light and variable winds, which were conducive for the formation of towering cumulus clouds.

“In the past week, weather conditions kept fluctuating and there was a very narrow window of opportunity. The winds were also stronger last week, meaning a low chance of rain clouds forming,” he explained.

Muhammad Helmi said the operation would be led by the department’s atmospheric science and cloud seeding division, with a TUDM aircraft used to transport four 1,000-litre tanks of water containing 150kg of salt each.

He said that the salt solution would be sprayed at the base of the identified clouds, adding that the salt particles would be carried upwards by thermals, which are upward currents of warm air.

He said this would form water vapour that would grow in size as they moved upwards, until they grew so heavy that they would then fall down as rain.

“Through cloud seeding, we are actually accelerating the process of rainfall production as well as increasing the amount of rainfall. We estimate it will take 15 minutes to half an hour for rain to fall after the solution is sprayed,” he said.

Muhammad Helmi expressed confidence that the rain would fall in the targeted areas, but said he was unable to predict how much it would increase water levels in the dams as the amount of rainfall depended on factors influencing each individual cloud.

Since Sunday, over two million people in Petaling Jaya, Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur are enduring a month-long water rationing exercise, with two days of supply followed by two days of dry taps.

It involves 431,617 households and businesses in the districts of Gombak, Kuala Lumpur, Petaling, Klang, Shah Alam, Kuala Selangor and Hulu Selangor.

According to the authorities, the water levels at the Selangor dam and Klang Gates have been deemed critical at 47.5% and 54% respectively.