Papua New Guinea’s Weather Service Assistant Director, Jimmy Gomoga, says Papua New Guinea will not be affected by the hot weather and bush fires burning in Australia, even though we may have similar hot temperatures.
Mr. Gomoga says this is due to the level of moisture we have in the ground, thanks to the rain and flood season from the previous two years.
“In 2018 and 2019, there was a lot of flooding that captured soil moisture”, he said.
“This has suppressed the bush fires. Our surface conditions are still wet, which will not allow bush fires to start,” Mr. Gomoga explained.
Mr. Gomoga explained the dry season that was faced describing the Central Pacific as a “Heat Engine”, suppressing the rain over PNG, AUS, and Indonesia. This is because of the heat the Ocean captures from the sun.
“The system has moved, the Central Pacific is a heat engine, mostly resident in the Western Pacific. But during the Elnino period, it has moved towards the Central Pacific”.
“So when that happens, we have dry season in our parts (of the country), which suppresses the rain over the pacific”, Mr. Gomoga said.
Mr. Gomoga added that Australia is in its summer season, and combined with the fewer amounts of ground water and moisture the continent has, bush fires are occurring.
Parts of PNG are already experiencing Rain, and PNG is heading into its normal weather season of rain, expected to come in the months of February and March.
By Benjamin Manimbi – EMTV News Cadet Journalist, Port Moresby
