Head of BMG Region III, I Putu Pudja, said that the average rainfall in Bali for the last 12 days is 166.1 mm. During January of this year, the rainfall was 323.7 mm for 24 days, with the heaviest rainfall reaching 73 mm on January 31. This is quite normal for this time of year, with the average January rainfall in Bali being 309 - 371 mm.

He explained that the rainfall is caused by the gradient of the high pressure (12 mb) between Asia and Australia and the tropical storms in the Indian Ocean, South Java and the territorial waters of South Nusa Tenggara.

The inclement weather over the last few days has brought about floods in some areas of Indonesia, including Bali and Lombok.

He cited significant disturbance of north trade winds, the increasing temperature of the sea surface (reaching up to 30 degrees Celsius), the South Oscillation index (increased from -1 to + 2) and strong westerly winds of up to 40 kilometers per hours as contributing factors to the frequent rainfalls.

"These have increased the turbulence of convective cloud, which manifested itself as rain cloud during January 2002," he noted.

Similar conditions are predicted to occur throughout February.