Indonesia braces for widespread drought as El Niño intensifies

Indonesia's meteorological agency, BMKG, issued a series of weather warnings across the archipelago. Early June forecasts called for scattered rain and thunderstorms in Jakarta and its surrounding areas, while heavy rain was anticipated in parts of Sumatra Barat, including Solok Selatan and Dharmasraya. In Yogyakarta, conditions were expected to be mostly cloudy, with brief periods of fog in Kulon Progo and clear skies in Sleman, Bantul, and Gunungkidul.

Meanwhile, the regional disaster agency in Semarang identified four neighbourhoods as red‑zone drought hotspots and prepared one million litres of emergency water for distribution. On a broader scale, BMKG warned that the developing El Niño event could bring significant rainfall deficits—below 50 % of normal—in large portions of Sumatra, Kalimantan, Java, Bali, Nusa Tenggara, Sulawesi, Maluku, and southern Papua from August to October 2026, raising the risk of severe water shortages nationwide.

The agency emphasized that while some areas may still experience isolated heavy showers, the overall trend points to an extended dry season and heightened drought vulnerability across Indonesia.