Myanmar’s commercial city of Yangon, and the western town of Kyaukphyu, experienced the heaviest single-day rainfalls in over 50 years yesterday, according to the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology.
Yangon, the former capital of the country, saw its highest single-day rainfall in 54 years, with 170 mm recorded yesterday, compared to the figure of 149 mm in Aug, 2019, the weather bureau reported.
Kyaukphyu, a major town in Rakhine State, recorded 502 mm yesterday, the highest in 58 years, compared to that of 272 mm in Aug, 1994.
“The record rainfalls occur because of a heavy monsoon wind coming from the east,” Hla Tun, director of the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology, said, yesterday.
“Despite the single-day extreme rainfalls, this year’s average rainfall is low and poor,” he added.
Yesterday morning, the rain-triggered floods left some areas in Yangon inundated.
Jul and Aug are the months with the average highest rainfalls in Myanmar, which sees its rainy season from mid-May to late Oct.
Even so, some towns in the country experienced record-breaking July heatwaves this year, in nearly 70 years, according to the weather bureau’s report.
Extreme weather events are likely to occur in the future because of climate change, Hla Tun said.
Source: NAM News Network