Although many may assume that the change of weather was triggered by the recent Spring Equinox shortening the Sun’s distance from Earth’s equator, turns out, it’s not the entire case.

It looks like we’ll likely have to brace ourselves for a couple more months of intense heat and humidity! The Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) expects the current heatwave the country is experiencing to carry on into May, before eventually subsiding by June.

MetMalaysia’s director-general Muhammad Helmi Abdullah said based on current weather data, Klang Valley is experiencing higher temperatures as ranging between 35 to 36 degrees Celsius. The interior of Pahang has also hit by rather intense temperatures, along with the Klang Valley.

The reason we’re suffering through extremely sweaty days and nights is due to the shift of the Southwest Monsoon and the end of the Northeast Monsoon season — together with strong El Nino phenomena — results in less rainfall, which then leads to severe drought, dry conditions, rising temperature, and hotter weather.

Although many assume that the change of weather was triggered by the recent Spring Equinox shortening the Sun’s distance from Earth’s equator (where Malaysia lies smack in the middle of), turns out, it’s not the entire case.

Although the equinox does affect what we perceive as ‘heat’– through the intensified radiation from the sun as it hits the earth directly, it’s relatively insignificant compared to the real change brought by the shift of the monsoon seasons which is what we’re experiencing now.