PETALING JAYA: The meteorological department has forecast scorching weather between March and May next year due to the Super El Nino phenomenon, potentially breaking Malaysia's record high temperature of 40.1 degrees Celsius.
Its director-general Hisham Anip said Malaysia's maximum temperature could exceed 41 degrees Celsius based on an analysis of the current El Nino phenomenon, alongside the impacts of climate change and global warming.
"If we look at current climate change trends, the rate of temperature increase in the country is approximately 0.13 degrees Celsius per decade.
"It has been nearly 30 years since 1998. Combined with the temperature spikes associated with El Nino, the increase could exceed one degree Celsius above the 40.1-degree record set back then," he said, according to Bernama.
Malaysia recorded its highest ever temperature of 40.1 degrees Celsius in Chuping, Perlis, on April 9, 1998, during the El Nino phenomenon in 1997/1998.
The peak temperature during the 2015/2016 El Nino episode was 39.3 degrees Celsius, recorded in Batu Embun, Pahang, on April 10, 2016.
Hisham said the previously recorded scenario of up to 77 consecutive days without rain could recur, particularly in the northern states of the peninsula due to the current El Nino phenomenon.
"Previous records show that this scenario could begin at the end of the year, with a lack of rainfall starting in December and continuing through January and February, before rain returns around March," he said.
He said the 2026/2027 northeast monsoon currently forecast to begin in late October would be crucial to ensuring that dams receive sufficient rainfall and water storage levels are boosted before the country faces drier weather next year.
He said the department was also collaborating with the health ministry to develop a heat index, to establish the threshold values used to warn the public about health risks associated with hot weather.
He said the current hot weather monitoring system classifies temperatures of 35 degrees Celsius and above as Level 1, 37 degrees Celsius and above as Level 2, and 40 degrees Celsius and above as Level 3.