Southwest monsoon wind has started entering southern areas of Myanmar and flash floods and landslides may occur in some areas of Myanmar due to cyclonic storm “Amphan”, announced the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology (DMH).
“We forecasted southwest monsoon wind will enter southern areas of Myanmar between May 16 and 21. The entry of monsoon wind in this year is later than previous years. The storm brought the monsoon wind,” said Dr Kyaw Moe Oo, Director General of the DMH.
The DMH said the southwest monsoon wind entered southern areas of Myanmar, Andaman Sea and southeast of Bay of Bengal.
The storm is crossing between Digha, West Bengal State, India and Hatiya Islands, Bangladesh, announced the DMH on May 20.
Rain or thundershowers will be fairly widespread to widespread in Nay Pyi Taw, Sagaing, Mandalay, Magway, Bago, Yangon, Ayeyawady and Taninthayi regions and Kachin, Chin, Rakhine, Kayin and Mon states and scattered in Shan and Kayah states and isolated heavy fall in Sagaing, Mandalay, Magway, Yangon and Ayeyawady regions and Chin and Rakhine states, it said.
Strong wind, heavy falls, flash floods and landslides may occur due to the effect of the storm. People who live near the highlands need to be careful of landslides and people who live near small rivers and streams need to be careful of flash floods, it said.
The southwest monsoon wind will enter delta areas within three days.
Early rainy season period starts from the day the monsoon wind enters Myanmar to the end of June. The southwest wind may enter southern areas of Myanmar between May 16 and 21, delta areas between May 22 and 27, middle areas of Myanmar between May 28 and June 2 and northern areas of Myanmar between June 3 and 8, according to the weather forecast for the rainy season by the DMH.
The southwest monsoon wind will reach across Myanmar between June 3 and 8 and it will retreat from Myanmar in the second week of October, it said.
A total of 11 low pressure areas may occur in Bay of Bengal in this rainy season and five may intensify into depressions, the forecast said.
