Stormy Weather, Since You Went Away

(9/6/2010)

The Jakarta Globe warns that much of Indonesia will experience deteriorating weather conditions marked by heavy rains, high winds and air turbulence in the week immediately following the Idul Fitri holidays on September 10-11, 2010.

With La Nina blamed for creating a year without a "dry season", the official Indonesian weather agency (BMKG) is warning for the week after the holidays that "The La Nina effect will be more intense during that period."

The predicted rains and bad weather will herald the beginning of the actual "rainy season" – a shifting period of weather change stretching until November when the official "wet" is expected to envelope most parts of the country.

Bad Timing

With millions of Indonesians traveling by air, sea, rail and road during the Idul Fitri holidays, the prediction of severe weather during the peak travel period is worrying. Crowded roads and ships sailing the Indonesian seas with official holiday exemptions that allow passenger safety certificate load limitations to be ignored will be especially at risk if the dire weather forecasts materialize.