JAKARTA (Reuters) – Indonesia is expected to witness a normal dry season in 2025, following a similar pattern to last year, the country’s weather agency said on Thursday, even as it highlighted risks of forest fires and drought in some areas.
The dry season will start in most areas in April and is expected to reach its peak in June up until August, the agency’s climatology deputy Ardhasena Sopaheluwakan told reporters in a briefing.
“There is no dominant El Nino weather pattern, so this year’s dry season prediction is relatively normal, tending to be similar to 2024 and not as dry as 2023,” he said.
Indonesia’s dry season in 2023 was the most severe since 2019 due to El Nino weather phenomenon that lasted longer than usual, bringing a drought that damaged crops and exacerbated forest fires.
Detailing this year’s prediction, the agency said a normal dry season would occur in most areas in Borneo, Java, Sumatra, Sulawesi and Papua islands.
However, the dry season will be more severe in some provinces such as North Sumatra, West Borneo, Central Sulawesi, North Maluku, and South Papua, the agency’s head Dwikorita Karnawati said.
The agency highlighted the risk of forest fires in northern parts of Sumatra islands and southern parts of Borneo islands in June until August, or during the peak of the dry season.
Drought is also expected in some areas of the eastern parts of Java, Nusa Tenggara and Bali islands in July until September this year, Dwikorita added.
“We urge farmers to adjust cultivation schedules and manage water use well and efficiently,” she said.
Heavy rains fell in some parts of Indonesia from January to March, the agency had said. Torrential rain in early March had triggered floods of up to 3-metres in and around Indonesia’s capital Jakarta and forced thousands to be evacuated.
(Reporting by Ananda Teresia; Editing by Alison Williams)
