INTERACTIVE: Which parts of Malaysia are suffering the most from continuous rain?

PETALING JAYA: As Malaysia braces for more downpours and potential floods, Kuantan in Pahang has emerged as the area that was most frequently faced with continuous rainfall this year.

The district, located in the northeast of Pahang, received a total of 49 alerts for continuous rain – the most recorded between January and Dec 4 this year.

That’s according to a check by The Star on the total of 69 notices on continuous rain warnings issued by the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) throughout this period.

Each notice contained red, orange and yellow alerts for various locations throughout the country to denote the different levels of heavy, continuous rain.

These notices were uploaded on the department’s social media platforms, including on X (formerly Twitter) where the posts were tagged with #amaranhujanberterusan

From the 69 notices, a total of 2,779 alerts were issued for affected districts nationwide.

Here’s a look at the districts across Malaysia which have received continuous rainfall alerts:

At present, Malaysia is experiencing the northeast monsoon season, which began in the middle of November and will last until March 2024.

During this season, showers and storms are expected, with continuous heavy rain potentially causing floods in low-lying areas.

While Kuantan had the largest number of alerts, it was Mersing in Johor that received the most warnings for dangerous levels of continuous rain.

The coastal area in Johor was alerted a total of 13 times for continuous rainfall under the red or “danger” category over the past year.

In each warning by MetMalaysia, districts are categorised under three levels – danger (red), severe (orange) and alert (yellow).

Districts under the red category are expected to receive continuous torrential rain of over 150mm within 24 hours.

Those in the orange category will likely experience continuous heavy rain of over 60mm within six hours.

The yellow alert is for districts that are expected to get continuous rain within one to three days. It could also mean that the present thunderstorm in an area is expected to continue.

Across the states, Sarawak faced the most number of alerts, with its districts being named a total of 945 times in the warning notices issued by MetMalaysia.

This was followed by Terengganu (297 alerts) and Sabah (282 alerts).

Most alerts or 70.3% were under the yellow category, while 22.6% were orange and 7.1% were classified as dangerous or red.

While continuous rain warnings were given throughout the year, one day stood out among the rest for having the most number of alerts.

On Feb 28, the department issued three sets of warning notices throughout the day – one each at 12.15am, 1pm, and 10.10pm.

The combined total number of alerts issued for the affected districts nationwide amounted to 273, with 17 being in the red category.

Some 21 alerts were under the orange level, while 235 alerts were for the yellow category.

With the monsoon season still in effect, Malaysia can expect more continuous rain to fall from the skies.

In October, it was reported that MetMalaysia had forecast four to six incidents of heavy rainfall between November this year and February next year that could potentially lead to floods.

MetMalaysia’s National Weather and Geophysics Operation Centre director Dr Fariza Yunus had said that heavy rain was expected in Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang from November to December.

Such wet weather was also forecast for Johor and Sarawak from December to January 2024.