MetMalaysia: Thunderstorms almost every evening is not extreme weather

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KUALA LUMPUR (April 14): The heavy rains and thunderstorms that have hit most of the west coast of the Peninsula in recent days are not unusual or extreme weather, said the Director General of the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) Jailan Simon.

He explained that the weather conditions were due to the country being in the transition phase of the monsoon, which usually causes heavy rains or thunderstorms for a short time, in the evenings and early evenings.

“Every year this thing (thunderstorm) actually happens and apart from lightning, it sometimes brings strong winds that can damage the structure of buildings or uproot trees and so on.

"It is quite difficult for us to say that the weather is getting more extreme now ... this is because thunderstorms like what happened yesterday (in Kuala Lumpur) have happened before," he said when contacted by Bernama, today.

He said this while commenting on the flash floods in several areas around the city yesterday, following heavy rain and continuous thunderstorms since 4.30 pm.

Meanwhile, a video showing a building’s windows shattering during yesterday’s thunderstorm in Kuala Lumpur has has gone viral and caused some concern about the weather.

The video clip apparently was of the Akademi Etiqa building’s lobby on Jalan Melaka when strong winds during the thunderstorm destroyed windows and sent people running for safety.

In a Facebook update posted shortly after the incident, Etiqa said no injuries were reported and that business will go on as usual.

“We would like to confirm that due to heavy downpour and strong winds this evening, the Akademi Etiqa building located at Jalan Melaka in the Kuala Lumpur city centre has suffered some damage.

“Thankfully, there are no injuries reported and our branch is open tomorrow for business as usual,” said Etiqa.

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