It is official: The heatwave hits Peninsular Malaysia, no sooner than when the Meteorological Department of Malaysia (MetMalaysia) issued the warnings in the last days of February.

Pokok Sena, Kedah was issued a Level 2 heatwave warning yesterday. It was the second time the area has received the alert, following the first on February 28th.

Pokok Sena was hot (pun intended) on the heels of the entire state of Perlis which was issued a Level 2 alert on Friday. However, it was downgraded to Level 1 status yesterday.

• Kuala Lumpur.
• Kedah: Padang Terap, Sik, Baling, Kuala Muda, Pendang and Kota Setar.
• Perak: Hulu Perak, Kuala Kangsar, Kinta, and Kampar.
• Pahang: Raub, Temerloh, and Bera.
• Selangor: Hulu Selangor.

A Level 1 alert is issued when temperatures at a particular location are between 35 and 37°C over 3 consecutive days.

A Level 2 warning is issued whenever temperatures hover between 37 and 40°C over three consecutive days.

Drought monitoring

According to MetMalaysia’s drought monitoring report on March 13, Chuping in Perlis, Kota Baru in Kelantan, Melaka and Sitiawan in Perak recorded moderately dry and very dry readings.

Chuping, the hottest town in Malaysia, recorded a sizzling 37.9°C for the entire February due to no rainfall. However, the highest temperature on record was 40.1 °C on 9th April 1998.

The National Water Commission’s war room site revealed that water levels at dams in Perlis and Kedah were at warning levels:

• Perlis: Timah Tasoh dam was at 59.72% capacity.
• Kedah: The Muda dam was at 47.8% capacity, BS Padang Saga (59.83%) and Malut (45.8%).
• Penang: Air Hitam dam only at 37.7% capacity.
• Johor: Sembrong Barat dam only at 35.23% capacity.

Advise for our fellow bikers

Please remember to stay hydrated and stop if you feel dizzy as that could be a sign of heat exhaustion or worse, a heatstroke. DO NOT take the symptoms lightly. Please refer to these tips on how to keep cool while riding in hot weather.