KOTA BHARU: Malaysia’s weather forecasts are expected to become faster and more accurate with the development of a new numerical weather prediction system by the Malaysian Meteorological Department.
Datuk Nor Yahati Awang, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability’s deputy secretary-general, said the system will utilise a supercomputer with a processing speed of six petaflops.
She confirmed the system will be housed at the Public Sector Data Centre in Kulim, Kedah, and will incorporate High-Performance Computing technology along with Artificial Intelligence and Big Data Analytics.
The deputy secretary-general announced the project is expected to be completed by 2027 and will enable weather forecasts to be issued up to 14 days in advance compared to the current seven-day forecast.
“This leap in capability represents a crucial milestone in the nation’s weather forecasting technology, which will strengthen early warning systems and improve preparedness against disaster risks,“ she told reporters after opening the 2025 National Climate Forum and Disaster Preparedness Programme.
Nor Yahati emphasised that climate change is no longer a future issue but a current reality with increasingly unpredictable weather and more frequent extreme events affecting public safety and economic sustainability.
MetMalaysia director-general Datuk Mohd Hisham Mohd Anip said the new system will provide more time for the National Disaster Management Agency and other strategic agencies to prepare for potential disasters including floods.
“The supercomputer we will acquire will enhance the competency and efficiency of disaster warning management, especially for floods,“ he explained.
He added that the new system benefits from both increased processing power and higher-resolution weather models offering 300-metre resolution compared to one kilometre previously.
“Previously, one data point represented one square kilometre, but now each kilometre can be divided into nine different data points, making our forecasts much finer and more accurate,“ Mohd Hisham said.
The director-general noted the system will provide significant benefits for various agencies and utility sectors including Tenaga Nasional Berhad, Prasarana and airports that depend on weather forecasts for daily operations.
He clarified that while the new system can forecast large-scale monsoon and weather patterns much earlier, warning of small-scale thunderstorms over extended periods remains challenging due to their fast and localised nature.
“When it comes to thunderstorms or rainfall lasting one or two hours, those cannot be forecast two weeks in advance, but for large monsoon systems we can see much further ahead whether major disasters are likely,“ Mohd Hisham stated.
He added that MetMalaysia aims for the new system to be the cornerstone in establishing an inclusive, effective and comprehensive national early warning system.
Meanwhile, Nor Yahati revealed that according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia’s 2021 Special Report on Flood Impacts, total losses from that year’s floods were assessed at RM6.1 billion.
“This trend of losses has continued in subsequent years with recorded figures of RM0.6 billion in 2022, RM0.8 billion in 2023, and RM0.9 billion in 2024,“ she said.
The deputy secretary-general stressed that flood impacts extend beyond loss of lives and property damage to include deep economic and social consequences demanding greater preparedness and resilience. – Bernama
