WHY SO PANAS? We asked Jabatan Cuaca WTF is happening with our weather.

If you’ve been wondering why it’s been so hot lately, you’re not alone. Over the past two weeks or so, many of us have been complaining of how panas it has been– wondering whether it’s just us or if it really has been that hot.

And just recently, we’ve been seeing our temperatures to go from hot to rainy and back to hot again, leaving many of us wondering if there’s actually something wrong with our weather. Therefore, we decided to give Jabatan Meteorologi Malaysia a call to find out what’s up with our weather, and why it’s been so hot lately.

Here’s what they told us…

Our unpredictable weather might be caused by the Southwest Monsoon.

Noticed how we’ve been having intense heat during the day, but crazily heavy rain in the evening? Well, according to the meteorology department, all of this could be caused by the Southwest Monsoon, which we’ve only just recently entered.

“Malaysia has entered the Southwest Monsoon, with the rate of rainfall distribution decreasing in recent times. Unpredictable weather is common during the transitional phase of the monsoon.” – (translated) Malaysian Meteorological Department, to CILISOS.

The Southwest Monsoon, which is one of two monsoons that our country experiences, is set to start in late May and last until September; which means that it’s right on time. But people have been pretty confused on why it’s been so hot lately, despite it raining almost every day. ‘Cause usually when people think of monsoon season, they probably picture something in their head that looks like this:

But unlike the Northeast monsoon which typically results in cold temperatures, the Southwest monsoon is known to make things a little hot and humid. 

Here’s why…

The Southwest Monsoon causes high humidity, but only when it’s not raining.

Despite having short periods of heavy rainfall that results in a drop in temperature, the amount of time in-between the periods of rain (called a “break“) ends up causing a rise in humidity, which commonly happens right after it rains.

And much like what we learned back in Science class, this high humidity naturally causes us to feel warmer, since it becomes harder for our sweat to evaporate… hence making us feel really 🥵 hot and sweaty 🥵.

The Met Department also noted that the rate of rainfall distribution has also been decreasing as of late, which might leave more room for the monsoon ‘break’, hence causing more prolonged periods of high humidity.

With that in mind, many Malaysians have been understandably concerned about the risk of heatwaves in our country; since some other countries that are due to go through the Southwest Monsoon as well, like India, have been experiencing some life-threatening heat. But fortunately, MetMalaysia reassured us that…

Our weather conditions are still considered ‘normal’.

Yup. Looks like we can breathe a little easy for now, because the meteorological department said that our weather conditions are still considered normal and “not too hot”, especially since our weather has always been like this.

“Actually, our current weather conditions are normal and not too hot. For your information, Malaysia’s weather is generally always hot and humid throughout the year, because it is in a tropical climate.” – (translated) Malaysian Meteorological Department, to CILISOS.

Additionally, the requirements of a heatwave are set at 37 degrees celcius for three consecutive days, which we have yet to meet. The director-general of MetMalaysia was also quoted by NST, saying that the “chances for such conditions to occur is very low because the country will still get rainfall occasionally”.

But while it might be true that our current temperature might not be out of the ordinary, one of our biggest concerns at the moment is the not just the temperature, but also the humidity– which climate experts believe might lead to heat-related illnesses, since our human bodies are struggling to cool down with the high humidity.

This entire phenomenon can be referenced to the “wet bulb temperature” which measures both heat and humidity, and reflects on the human body’s ability to cool down in a certain climate.

“If the wet-bulb temperature reading is higher than our body temperature, that means that we cannot cool ourselves to a temperature tolerable for humans by evaporating sweat, and that basically means you can’t survive.” – Tapio Schneider (Climate Scientist), as reported by the Washington Post.

And according to this website that has a wet bulb temperature measurement for various countries, Malaysia’s current wet bulb temperatures currently stands at about an average of 26.7 degrees celcius (including Sabah and Sarawak).

And with studies showing that our body’s evaporation of sweat slowing down and eventually stopping at 35 degrees celcius, it looks like our humidity is starting to reach mildly concerning levels. But even though this might raise some alarm bells, MetMalaysia still hasn’t presented any warnings on our humidity levels yet, so we might be in the clear?

However, it is important to remember that…

MetMalaysia can make calculated predictions, but they aren’t always 100% accurate.

From what the Jabatan told us, it seems our weather conditions are still normal… though on the other hand, they’ve also been quoted by other news outlets saying that there are still risks of our country going through a heatwave.

But we can’t really blame ’em, since forecasting the weather isn’t as simple and straightforward as guessing when’s your next meal. In order to predict changes in our weather patterns, they have to constantly be looking at both old & new data, and use certain kinds of tools on a daily, or even hourly basis.

So, while we can somewhat rely on the meteorological predictions and forecasts to a certain extent, it would probably still be in our best interests to take our own precautions during this unpredictable weather, by staying indoors and keeping hydrated. In the meantime, it seems like we’re pretty much still in the clear… for now at least.