PETALING JAYA: There has been an 14.8% increase in the number of heavy rain warnings issued by the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) during this year’s northeast monsoon season.

The department has issued 630 continuous rain alerts for districts nationwide from November to Dec 5. This marks 81 alerts more compared with the 549 alerts issued in the same period last year.

This year’s northeast monsoon started on Nov 5 and will end in March next year.  Last year’s northeast monsoon began on Nov 11 and ended in March, 2024.

MetMalaysia issues daily advisories of continuous rain, categorised as yellow (alert), orange (severe), and red (danger).

Orange and red notices are often followed by floods.

The northeast monsoon this year has so far flooded parts of Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah and Johor.

MetMalaysia also expects a monsoon surge to start from tomorrow (Dec 8) until Dec 14 in the eastern part of the peninsula.

The surge, it said, has the potential to generate more thunderstorms and heavy rain.

This year’s northeast monsoon is expected to be worse than the disaster that hit in 2014, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi was reported as saying.

In December 2014, floods in Kelantan affected over 200,000 people and killed 21, causing RM1bil in damage.

Kelantan is again the worst hit this time around. A total of 29 red alerts have been issued so far for districts in the state, followed by Terengganu (28) and Pahang (12).

In terms of districts, four districts in Terengganu received the greatest number of red alerts, namely Dungun, Hulu Terengganu, Kemaman and Marang, with four alerts each.

In east Malaysia, Sabah was issued with a total of 50 continuous rain alerts. The animated map below shows the movement of heavy rains since the start of the monsoon:

MetMalaysia director-general Dr. Mohd Hisham Mohd Anip said the monsoon is expected to bring five to seven episodes of heavy rainfall.

“Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Johor, Sarawak, and Sabah face heightened risks during November and December.

“From January to February, Pahang, Johor, Sarawak, and Sabah remain vulnerable,” he said in a statement on Nov 1.