People in the Southern Region of Papua New Guinea (PNG) will continue to experience heavy rains despite the country now moving towards the Autumn season.
The Director for the National Weather Service, Mr. Jimmy Gomoga, mentioned that the country has gone past summer period and is heading into the autumn season and by the end of March, autumn kicks in.
He explained that due to the transitional change in the climate, the Southern parts of the country will continue to experience above average rainfalls then the rest of the country.
“While the Southern part of the country will be wetter, the New Guinea Islands and some parts of the Highlands region should be expecting below normal rainfalls,” said Mr. Gomoga.
Western Province, Gulf, Milne Bay Province and Central Province are some of the main provinces in the Southern Region that will be experiencing above average rainfalls.
He also stated that the New Guinea Islands Region will be quite dry as well as some parts of the Highlands Region. Gomoga said Western Highlands, Eastern Highlands and West Sepik as the provinces that will be receiving less rain during this time.
“The transitional period for the weather pattern will be from April to May and by the end of May is when Dry season should kick in.”
He further highlighted that there are no cyclone warnings despite the last strong winds that were felt.
These gale winds were formed outside of PNG but in the Coral Seas going towards Australia and as a result of that PNG felt a bit of it especially in the Southern region.
“At the moment it’s very quiet, however PNG National Weather Service will continue to monitor the situation and if any information regarding any system arises, we will let the public know as soon as possible,” said Mr. Gomoga.
However, everyone is urged to still take precautions because the country is in the middle of the wet season. Gomoga stated that the Tropical systems may form and people should be aware of that and be on alert from weather warnings from the PNG National Weather Service.