Arya Dipa The Jakarta Post 8 Jul 18;
Several areas in tropical Indonesia have experienced an unusual temperature drop, a natural phenomena that occurs at the peak of the dry season during winter in neighboring Australia, a government agency has said.
The Meteorology, Geophysics and Climatology Agency (BMKG) said in a statement on Friday that it recorded the lowest temperature of the year in Ruteng, East Nusa Tenggara, at 12 degree Celsius on July 4. Low temperatures were also recorded in the mountainous areas of Wamena in Papua and Tretes in Pasuruan, East Java, the agency said.
The agency's meteorology deputy, Mulyono R. Prabowo, said a movement of air mass from Australia to Indonesia brought dry, cold wind to the archipelago.
Colder temperatures were also recorded in Bandung, West Java, over the past few days, with lows on Friday.
Ary Syahril Ramadhan, 33, said he felt the air was colder on Friday night when he went out to watch a World Cup match with his friends. He said he felt hungrier throughout the night and took a shower late in the morning to avoid colder water.
Bandung’s general temperature is typically hovering at 20 degrees Celsius, but on Saturday, the BMKG recorded a temperature of 16.7 degrees.
An officer of the BMKG's Bandung branch, Toni Agus Wijaya, said Saturday that the temperature was indeed colder than usual, as drops in temperature usually happened only from dusk to early morning, with the warmest temperatures recorded at noon, when there are fewer clouds in the sky, Toni said.
He suggested that people stay fit by eating fruits and vegetables to weather the cold and dry air.
Over the last 40 years, Toni said, the lowest recorded temperature in Bandung was 11.2 degrees Celsius in August 1987, while the hottest was 36 degrees in April 2011. (evi)
