Indonesia: Severe Weather to Hit Indonesian Shores This Week

Dames Alexander Sinaga Jakarta Globe 6 Apr 17;

Jakarta. The Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysics Agency, or BMKG, has announced that heavy rains with thunder, lightning and strong winds are likely to sweep into the southern shores of Indonesia, including in Sumatra, Java, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara, West Papua and Papua, sometime this week.

The predicted bad weather is expected to hit Indonesia on April 6-8, as current weather condition shows a low-pressure system in oceans south of Java, the Aru Sea and Papua New Guinea. This will cause strong winds to move from Sumatra’s western shorelines to the southern parts of Papua, BMKG said.

Strong waves can reach heights of between 1.25 meters to 2.5 meters on the western shores of Aceh, the Mentawai Islands, South China Sea, on the northern shores of Natuna Islands and East Java, in the northern parts of the Maluku Sea, the Halmahera Sea, on the northern shores of West Papua and Papua and on the eastern parts of Arafuru Sea.

The BMKG advised the public to brace themselves for floods, landslides, falling trees and slippery wet roads.

Boats, ships and ferries should get an update on the severe weather conditions before setting off from ports.

Updates on the spell of bad weather from all parts of the Indonesian archipelago will follow as it happens.