Compiled Report Week 3

FLOOD
(Northeast monsoon)
Monsoon is a seasonal winds blowing from the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea in the
southwest bringing heavy rains to a certain area. Northeast from November to Mac. The
northeast monsoon brings heavy rain especially to the states on the east coast of Peninsular
Malaysia and Sarawak west.
Northeast Monsoon season is the country's main rainy season. Monsoon weather system that
forms along with a surge of cold air from Siberia often produce heavy rainfall caused severe
flooding along the east coast states of Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and East Johor and
Sarawak.
(Summer Monsoon)
Summer monsoon is not quite that dramatic, but it does provide lots of moisture during what
is often the hottest part of our summer. It can also sometimes produce flooding rains with
slow moving thunderstorms.
How the Monsoon sets up on the weather map:
We can get from the Summer Monsoon. For Asia, India, and Australia, with the worlds
strongest monsoons, this region stretches from the South China Sea into the Indian Ocean and
includes Asia and the northern end of Australia. From June until September, summer
monsoon rains occur in South Asian countries such as Vietnam. From December until
February, the monsoon rains move south of the equator towards Australia while South Asia
experiences dry monsoon conditions. There is even an East Asian monsoon that brings
summer rain to China, Japan, and Korea, but it is caused by a different type of wind pattern
associated with the jet stream.
Drought in Malaysia (1998)
Drought occurred in 1998 is one of the serious cases in Malaysia as various region of
Malaysia greatly affected by the Southwest monsoon (summer monsoon) and the Northeast
monsoon (winter monsoon). It was related with El-Nino which change the usual sea surface
temperature and warming of east Pacific ocean. Climate and atmospheric circulation across
the Pacific ocean is disrupted with drought in normally wet area. (Figure 1) and (Figure
2).These monsoon seasons and their transition periods, the inter-monsoon season, account for
the various wet and dry seasons. There will be a regional variability where some parts of
Malaysia have low precipitation level and some will have increasing precipitation level. It
will lead to flood or drought if the monsoon events are in extreme condition. Malaysia has
suffered the most serious drought was in 1997-1998.
Impacts of monsoon drought to Malaysia
In agriculture field, rice-producing state like Kedah experienced low yield which had to lean
on the imported rice. Hence, drought also affects economy because the agricultural exports
will be lesser and imports will be higher during drought season. Besides, drought in 1997-
1998 also caused transboundary haze which was caused by forest fires due to the extremely
dry weather. Drought in 1997-1998 brought huge inconvenience to the peoples life. The
worst hit region included the capital of Kuala Lumpur and part of Selangor where water
rationing had affecting almost 3.2 million users for about five months from April to
September.
Upwelling along Peninsular Malaysia during Southwest Monsoon

Most coastal upwelling regions are governed by classical wind-driven Ekman dynamics. It
occurs during summer along coast of Vietnam, near Hainan Island. Summer monsoon being
an important force in the region, southwestern upwelling favourable wind provided the
perfect setting for such features to occur. One such place is the east coast of Peninsular
Malaysia (PM). The current circulation system within SCS main basins is cyclonic in winter
and anti-cyclonic in summer. This influenced by seasonal changes in monsoon wind. During
summer, southwestern wind is dominant along the western coast of SCS, especially near PM
and the Vietnam coast, which flows northeastward (Table 1). This seasonal wind that is
favorable for upwelling formation. Ekman transport inducing the coastal. Thermocline
uplifting is a major feature related to upwelling. The influence of strong low-salinity coastal
water (32.2-32.8 psu) can be seen between 15-20 m. This coastal stratification has prevented
the upwelling from reaching the surface (Figure 3). On the other hand, scarce data on
nutrients and chlorophyll were also collected during the cruises. Almost consistent with the
uplifting feature seen from the temperature and salinity cross-section. This is another
indication of subsurface water being displaced upward as part of an upwelling process. The
upwelling revealed by the insitu data is actually only part of a larger upwelling system along
the PM coast. Additionally, the southwest monsoon induces upwelling off the PM east coast,
which is in accordance with the Ekman upwelling theory. Nevertheless, it is out of the study
scope to conclude that this is the main or only factor influencing upwelling in the area. Most
importantly, this study provides new insights regarding southwest monsoon dynamics that
produce an upwelling system, which is known to be a particularly nutrient rich and high
productivity process.
Typhoon Morakot, Taiwan
The wind speed for the typhoon is greater than 74 mph.

Hurricane, typhoon and cyclone are exactly the same.
This tropical storm used different name in different
places. Typhoon Morakot has been found by Japan
Meteorology Agency on 2 August 2015. Besides, the Morakot typhoon produce more
precipitation which is 2855 mm and strong winds. This is due to the southwest summer
monsoon that influence on the typhoon. Then, it is also lead to the flooding and potential to
have landslide. Typhoon Morakot in 2009 was one of the worst and has recorded 619 deaths,
76 missing persons, 142000 homes destroyed and damage and landslide all over the village in
Taiwan. Higher sea surface temperature (> 26 C), minimum winds at troposphere and strong
southwestern monsoon winds are the factors of typhoon Morakot happened. Taiwan is high
pressure area, the air is stable and there is minimum activity in atmosphere such as cloud
formation. So typhoon can develop without any disturbance. This typhoon occurred at
northern location (20N, 131E) and make a first moved to the eastward. Then, suddenly
turning to the westward to move toward Taiwan. (Figure 4). There is no formation of
typhoon in Malaysia as this country is in low pressure area. So there are lot of activity in
atmosphere such as cloud formation and it will prevent the typhoon to form.
Figure 2: El-Nino events with winds and SST

anomalies in year 1995-2014. (Adapted from various
sources)
Figure 1: El-Nino events in year 1980-

2014. (Adapted from various sources)
Figure 3: Vertical distributions of temperature (upper panels) and Figure 4: Path of Typhoon Morakot
salinityCoast
(lower panels) fromVietnam
Transect coast
2 (T2) and Transect 3 (T3) (Adapted
East coastfrom The New York Times, August
of PM
(Adapted from Scientific Research Publishing Inc.) 10, 2009)
Similarity The similar wind settings makes the Ekman transport applicable.
Difference narrow continental shelf and steep slope a broad shallow shelf
(allow upwelling to be intensified)
Table 1: Similarity and difference of coast
(Adapted from Scientific Research
Publishing Inc.)
References :
1) Ramage, C., Monsoon Meteorology. International Geophysics Series, Vol. 15, 296 pp.,
Academic Press, San Diego, Calif. 1971.
http://www.met.gov.my/web/metmalaysia/education/weather/weatherphenomena/monso
on
2) Jamaludin Suhaila, Sayang Mohd Deni,Wan Zawiah Wan Zin & Abdul Aziz Jemain
(2010). Trends in Peninsular Malaysia Rainfall Data During the Southwest Monsoon
and Northeast Monsoon Seasons: 19752004. Sains Malaysiana 39(4),533-542.
3) Fredolin T.Tangang*, Liew Juneng, Ester Salimun, Kwan Meng Sei, Loh Jui Le &
Halimatun Muhamad (2012). Climate Change and Variability over Malaysia: Gaps in
Science and Research Information. Sains Malaysiana. 41(11), 1355-1366.
4) Mohd Fadzil Akhir, Farshid Daryabor, Mohd Lokman Husain, Fredolin Tangang4,
Fangli Qiao5 (2015). Evidence of Upwelling along Peninsular Malaysia during
Southwest Monsoon. Open Journal of Marine Science, Vol.5 No.3, 2015.
http://file.scirp.org/pdf/OJMS_2015070714351051.pdf
5)

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FLOOD

How the Monsoon sets up on the weather map:

Drought in Malaysia (1998)

Impacts of monsoon drought to Malaysia

Upwelling along Peninsular Malaysia during Southwest Monsoon

Typhoon Morakot, Taiwan

The wind speed for the typhoon is greater than 74 mph.

Figure 2: El-Nino events with winds and SST

Figure 1: El-Nino events in year 1980-

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