10 - DAY AGROMET BULLETIN WEATHER REVIEW FOR AGRICULTURAL USERS OF MALAYSIA 11th 20th September 2011

SUMMARY

For the duration of this second decade of September 2011, most places in Malaysia recorded normal to above normal rainfall. However, some places in Pahang and Johore together with few places in southern Sarawak had much above normal rainfall. Meanwhile tips of northern & southern Sabah had below normal to much below normal of rainfall during this period. Whole of Sarawak and east to southeastern states of the Peninsular were comparatively wetter than the other states in the country. The amount of rainfall over these areas was between 100 to 200 mm. Elsewhere of the country recorded rainfall amount between 30 to 100 mm. On the other hand, tips of northern & southern Sabah received less rainfall of 10 to 30 mm. The amount of rainfall in Malaysia throughout this period would favour agricultural activities that require good amount of rainfall. Based on Figure 3 below, in the very wet areas that received more than 70mm of rainfall for 3 consecutive decades (southern Terengganu), continuous moisture-saturated soil conditions will limit the growth and development of roots of some crops. With regard to the temperature, most of the lowland areas in Malaysia recorded normal to above normal temperature during this period. Some places in Subang recorded

much above normal temperature. Meanwhile Kluang had below normal temperatures for this period. The temperature in this decade had not affected significantly the crop growth.

RAINFALL During this second decade of September 2011, most places in Malaysia recorded normal to above normal rainfall. However, some places in Pahang and Johore

together with few places in southern Sarawak had much above normal rainfall. Meanwhile tips of northern & southern Sabah had below normal to much below normal of rainfall during this period. These were shown on map in Figure 2. The Map of Rainfall Total (mm) shown in Figure 1 below indicates that the whole Sarawak and east to southeastern states of the Peninsular were comparatively wetter than the other states in the country. The amount of rainfall over these areas was between 100 to 200 mm. Elsewhere of the country recorded rainfall amount between 30 to 100 mm. However, tips of northern & southern Sabah received less rainfall of 10 to 30 mm of rainfall amount. Sri Aman in Sarawak had the highest total rainfall of 294mm recorded where 8 out of 10-day period were raining. On the average, most places in the country recorded 4 to 8 raindays. The very wet areas recorded 9 to 10 of raindays. The rest of places recorded 0 to 3 of raindays.

Figure 1 : Rainfall Total (mm)

Figure 2 : Rainfall Percentage from Normal (%)

Figure 3 : Extreme Weather Conditions

EVAPORATION In general, most places in the country recorded normal evaporation rates except for central Sarawak that recorded below normal evaporation rates throughout this period. In Figure 4 shown below, most places in the Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia recorded between 3 to 4.5 mm and 3.0 to 5.0 mm of evaporation rates per day respectively. A few areas in northern Sabah and small places in Terengganu had higher daily evaporation rates of more than 5.0 mm. Lower evaporation ranging from 1.1 to 2.7 mm per day was recorded over the highland areas of northwest Pahang, some places in Penang and Johore.

Figure 4 : Mean Daily Evaporation (mm)

SOLAR RADIATION Malaysia recorded normal solar radiation during this period. In Figure 5 shown

below, most places in the country recorded 14 to 17 MJm-2 of solar radiation per day. Northern Kelantan and whole of Sabah had higher values of solar radiation of more than 18.0 MJm-2 per day. Lower solar radiation of less than 14.6 MJm-2 per day was recorded over an area of the highland area of northwest Pahang and some in southern Sarawak.

Figure 5 : Solar Radiation ( MJm-2)

TEMPERATURE Most of the lowland areas in Malaysia recorded normal to above normal temperature during this period. Some places in Subang recorded much above normal temperature. Meanwhile Kluang had below normal temperatures. Daily mean

temperatures were between 25.4 and 28.9C. The highest temperature recorded during this period was 35.8C being reported at Pertanian Charok Padang, Kedah. On the other hand, the lowest temperature of 19.6C was recorded at MARDI Kemaman,Terengganu. The mean daily temperature recorded at Cameron Highlands was 17.4C with the highest and lowest values of 23.7C and 14.5C respectively. The average temperature for this area was normal for this period.

Figure 6 : Deviation From Normal of Mean Temperature (C) at 29 Principal Meteorological Stations in Malaysia

SOIL MOISTURE DISTRIBUTION The Soil Moisture Distribution Map in Figure 7 displays the daily distribution of soil moisture in Malaysia on 20 September 2011. Generally, Malaysia experienced very wet condition during the day with soil moisture content of the day over most places in Malaysia was 80 to 100% per day. On the other hand, northern and southern of Sabah had soil moisture content of the day of between 70 to 80%. The soil moisture shown in the map is indicative values of the amounts of water in the top 1m depth of a horizontal soil. They are estimated daily by the water budgeting/balance method. Daily rainfall amounts are used as inputs to the soil water content. The daily evapotranspiration rates are estimated by using the modified Penman-Monteith formula which needs as inputs daily mean values of temperature, humidity, solar radiation and wind speed. These meteorological variables together with rainfall are those measured at principal meteorological stations of the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MMD) located throughout the country. A few stations that are manned by non-MMD staff are also included to improve the spatial coverage. At the non-MMD staffed stations, solar radiation is usually not measured and sunshine duration is used to estimate the value of solar radiation by applying the Angstrom Equation. The ArcView software is employed to perform spatial analysis. The holding capacity of the soil is assumed to be 30 cm out of the 1 m depth of soil. The field capacity and wilting point are assumed to have the values 0.3 and 0.1 respectively. For interpreting these maps, please refer to the following table: Soil Moisture Content > 30% 25 - 30% 20 - 25% 15 - 20% <15% Condition Very Wet Wet Moderate Dry Very Dry

Figure 7: Soil Moisture Distribution

WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR THE COMING DECADE (1ST 2011)

10TH OCTOBER

Based on the map in Figure 8, climatologically during the first decade of October, Sabah and Sarawak together with the northern states of the Peninsular is shown to have rainfall ranging from 70 to 150mm. Meanwhile, precipitation in southern parts of the Peninsular is shown between 30 to 70mm. For the outlook of the next 10-day, during the first decade of October 2011, the precipitation over the Peninsular Malaysia is between 60 to 100mm is expected while southern parts of Johor is expected between 30 to 80 mm. Sarawak is expected to have more rainfall ranging from 70 to 110mm while Sabah is expected to have more rainfall ranging from 65 to 100mm.

Figure 8 : Rainfall (mm) For The Period 1st 10th OCTOBER 2011 Base On Long-term Climatologically Record

EXPECTED WEATHER IMPACT ON AGRICULTURE DURING THE COMING DECADE (1ST 10TH OCTOBER 2011) Northern Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak and Sabah will be expected to experience normal to above normal rainfall for this decade. Moisture stress will experience by non-irrigated crops thus, productions of some non-irrigated crops are expected to reduce. For those areas which considered to have dry condition during last decade, the continuous of this condition may affect the crops performance and to be failure. However, over Sabah & Sarawak the amount of rainfall would favour agricultural activities that require good amount of rainfall.

Table 1: Deviation From Normal of Rain, Temperature, Solar Radiation and Evaporation September 11th. - 20th., 2011
Total Rainfall Percentage Deviation of From Normal % Chuping Alor Star Airport Penang Airport Ipoh Airport Sitiawan Subang Airport Petaling Jaya Malacca Airport Johore Baru Airport Mersing Kluang Kota Bharu Airport Kuala Krai Kuala Terengganu Batu Embun Cameron Highlands Kuantan Airport Temerloh Muadzam Shah Kuching Sri Aman Sibu Bintulu Miri Labuan Kota Kinabalu Kudat Tawau Sandakan 202 25 62 90 122 184 148 109 80 187 340 14 13 48 150 108 202 145 271 81 312 53 174 125 293 45 7 9 61 Normal (mm) + 78 - 79 - 49 - 6 + 12 + 52 + 29 + 7 - 12 + 52 + 105 - 69 - 73 - 36 + 32 + 9 + 71 + 24 + 85 - 15 + 200 -36 64 15 182 -50 -38 -43 -31 Mean Temperature Percentage Deviation of From Normal % 101 102 103 99 102 104 101 102 102 100 98 102 103 102 101 99 101 100 98 100 100 100 100 101 100 102 101 102 102 Normal (C) + 0.2 + 0.6 + 0.7 - 0.2 + 0.5 + 1.1 + 0.4 + 0.4 + 0.4 + 0.1 - 0.5 + 0.6 + 0.7 + 0.5 + 0.3 - 0.1 + 0.3 + 0.1 - 0.4 + 0.1 0.0 0.1 -0.1 0.2 0 0.6 0.4 0.5 0.5 Mean Daily Solar Radiation Percentage Deviation of From Normal % 91 96 104 112 94 96 96 114 106 Normal (MJm ) - 1.5 - 0.8 + 0.7 + 2.1 - 0.8 - 0.7 - 0.6 2.1 1.2 -2

Mean Daily Evaporation Percentage Deviation of From Normal % 124 83 74 97 108 126 93 71 66 103 127 121 122 97 61 117 103 122 103 91 100 63 107 107 100 118 91 107 Normal (mm) + 0.7 - 0.6 - 1.0 - 0.1 + 0.3 + 0.9 - 0.3 - 1.0 - 1.4 + 0.1 + 0.9 + 0.7 + 0.9 - 0.1 - 0.7 + 0.6 + 0.1 + 0.8 + 0.1 - 0.3 0 -1.9 0.3 0.3 0 0.8 -0.4 0.3

Station

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Table 2a: Rainfall, Temperature, Solar Radiation and Evaporation September 11th. - 20th., 2011
Solar Rainfall (mm) Station Total Max. Fall / Date No. of Mean Mean Absolute Absolute Rainday Min. Max. Min. Max. Mean Air Temperature (C) Radiation MJm
-2

Evaporation (mm) Mean Daily

Mean Daily

Perlis Chuping FELDA Chuping A 155 100.8 / 11 -/8 23.6 31.1 22.9 33.9 26.5 3.6 -

Kedah Pulau Langkawi Airport Alor Star Airport Pertanian Gajah Mati Pertanian Charok Padang Pertanian Teluk Chengai MARDI Bukit Tangga 195 26 31 61 66 77.4 / 11 11.2 / 11 -/14.2 / 20 26.2 / 19 31.6 / 11 7 5 6 7 7 24.5 24.4 22.7 23.1 30.6 31.7 32.8 32.2 23.5 23.3 21.7 22.4 32.6 33.9 35.8 35.0 27.0 27.2 27.7 27.7 14.3 3.6 3.0 -

Penang Penang Airport Prai Butterworth MARDI Bertam 79 198 108 67 38.4 / 18 133.2 / 11 37.8 / 17 49.0 / 11 7 7 6 6 24.7 24.6 24.7 24.0 30.5 31.4 31.0 31.5 23.8 23.2 23.9 23.0 31.8 32.8 32.5 33.3 27.2 28.0 27.7 27.7 14.7 2.8 2.7

Perak Ipoh Airport Sitiawan Lubok Merbau MARDI Kuala Kangsar MARDI Parit Pertanian Titi Gantung LKM Hilir Perak FELDA Trolak Utara 53 65 54 14 0 31 11 91 13.6 / 14 27.8 / 14 21.6 / 20 4.8 / 13 -/11.3 / 19 4.0 / 16 27.1 / 20 8 5 8 8 0 9 5 6 23.6 24.0 23.4 23.1 23.5 21.2 23.7 31.8 31.8 32.1 33.1 31.7 32.2 32.5 22.9 23.1 22.7 22.5 22.8 21.1 23.1 33.1 33.0 33.8 34.6 33.0 33.9 34.4 26.4 27.1 26.4 28.1 27.6 26.7 28.1 16.8 16.9 3.4 4.1 3.6 3.7 3.4 3.5 -

Selangor Subang Airport Petaling Jaya MARDI Tanjung Karang F.R.I. Kepong MARDI Kelang MARDI Serdang 113 89 52 188 92 56.4 / 14 34.2 / 14 31.8 / 18 113.0 / 14 74.4 / 14 -/5 8 5 6 3 24.7 33.1 24.6 32.5 24.2 31.4 23.4 23.5 23.2 34.9 34.5 32.8 27.8 27.5 27.8 16.5 4.4 4.1 -

Negeri Sembilan Hospital Seremban Ladang Air Hitam Haiwan Jelai Gemas 23 219 70 7.5 / 14 70.5 / 14 17.4 / 14 8 6 7 24.4 31.3 23.6 33.8 27.9 -

* - rainfall less than 0.5mm

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Table 2b : Rainfall, Temperature, Solar Radiation and Evaporation September 11th. - 20th., 2011
Solar Rainfall (mm) Station Total Max. Fall / Date No. of Rainday Mean Mean Absolute Min. Max. Min. Absolute Max. Mean Air Temperature (C) Radiation MJm
-2

Evaporation (mm) Mean Daily

Mean Daily

Malacca Malacca Airport Chemara Serkam 79 3 42.8 / 14 2.0 / 14 4 2 24.1 23.4 31.3 31.5 23.5 22.4 33.0 32.8 27.0 27.5 4.0 -

Johore Johore Baru Airport Mersing Kluang Batu Pahat Pertanian Sungai Sudah Pertanian Parit Botak Chemara Layang-layang MARDI Pontian FELDA Lenga Mardi Kluang 45 112 149 72 5 72 103 17.0 / 14 68.2 / 20 84.8 / 20 22.6 / 16 -/2.2 / 13 -/-/31.1 / 14 65.9 / 20 6 6 6 8 3 6 7 23.5 23.1 22.9 24.1 23.1 31.3 31.8 31.0 31.6 32.2 23.1 22.6 22.4 23.6 22.0 33.4 32.9 33.1 32.9 33.4 26.3 25.9 25.4 26.7 27.6 2.4 2.7 3.4 2.5 2.2

Kelantan Kota Bharu Airport Kuala Krai Haiwan Tanah Merah Haiwan Machang 11 11 169 50 5.4 / 20 4.6 / 16 101.2 / 13 23.6 / 18 3 4 8 4 24.2 23.0 22.5 23.5 32.0 32.8 33.1 34.2 23.2 22.5 22.0 23.0 32.9 33.9 34.2 35.8 27.3 26.6 27.8 28.9 19.6 4.2 4.1 -

Terengganu Kuala Terengganu MARDI Jerangau MARDI Kemaman 33 82 137 24.0 / 20 28.0 / 18 74.2 / 17 3 5 6 24.4 23.1 21.7 31.8 33.3 33.1 22.8 22.4 19.6 32.6 34.6 34.2 27.2 28.2 27.4 5.0 3.3

Pahang Batu Embun Cameron Highlands Kuantan Airport Temerloh Muadzam Shah Pertanian Gali Raub MARDI Sungai Baging P.P.P. Tun Razak FELDA Kg. New Zealand MARDI Bukit Ridan 96 115 141 76 134 14 76 68 82 171 45.6 / 16 41.2 / 13 93.6 / 18 27.4 / 16 41.2 / 12 4.2 / 20 55.2 / 19 32.5 / 16 38.3 / 15 59.9 / 12 6 9 8 5 10 4 4 4 5 9 23.0 15.4 23.3 23.3 23.1 23.1 22.0 22.8 32.8 21.4 32.9 33.5 32.6 32.2 32.5 32.8 22.3 14.5 22.7 22.7 22.3 22.4 21.2 22.2 34.1 23.7 34.3 34.8 33.5 33.7 34.2 34.2 26.4 17.4 26.7 26.6 26.0 27.7 27.3 27.8 12.1 17.0 3.3 1.1 4.1 3.6 4.4 3.3 3.4 4.5

* - rainfall less than 0.5mm

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Table 2c : Rainfall, Temperature, Solar Radiation and Evaporation September 11th. - 20th., 2011
Solar Rainfall (mm) Station Total Max. Fall / Date No. of Mean Mean Max. Absolute Min. Absolute Max. Mean Air Temperature (C) Radiation MJm Rainday Min.
-2

Evaporation (mm) Mean Daily

Mean Daily

Sarawak Kuching Sri Aman Sibu Bintulu Miri 64 294 41 151 76 20.2 / 12 120.0 / 17 22.4 / 12 61.8 / 11 56.0 / 16 8 9 9 7 8 23.6 23.3 23.7 23.2 23.9 31.9 32.1 32.0 31.5 31.6 23.1 22.1 23.1 21.9 22.7 35.0 34.8 34.5 33.9 33.2 26.5 26.4 26.6 26.6 27.1 15.2 15.2 14.6 16.3 17.2 3.9 3.0 3.6 3.3 4.7

Sabah Labuan Kota Kinabalu Kudat Tawau Sandakan 276 41 3 4 49 98.6 / 20 8.4 / 15 1.2 / 14 2.6 / 14 26.4 / 15 8 9 4 4 4 24.4 24.4 24.1 23.8 24.4 31.5 33.2 32.4 32 32.7 23.0 23.6 21.9 22.8 23.4 32.9 34.3 33.4 32.9 34.3 27.6 27.8 27.7 27.3 27.8 19.9 21.8 21.4 20.3 21.5 4.9 4.8 5.3 3.9 4.8

* - rainfall less than 0.5mm

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