PUTRAJAYA: Rainfall for the northeast monsoon is expected to peak between the end of November and January.
The Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) expected the northern region to receive more rainfall than average.
MetMalaysia director-general Dr Mohd Hisham Mohd Anip said current forecast models predicted 20 to 40 per cent more rain in states bordering Thailand.
"Sabah is expected to face the same conditions, but it will last longer there, until February or March next year."
He said this after an inter-agency engagement session with the media on preparations for the northeast monsoon at the Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (SMART) Base in Pulau Meranti here today.
He said though rainfall would increase, whether there would be floods depended on the duration of the rainfall.
"We can forecast how much rain some states will get in a month. But floods depend on how many millimetres of rain falls within a certain period of time.
"For example, one state is expected to receive 800mm to 1,000mm of rain in a month. But if that much rain falls within a few days, there will be floods."
Dr Mohd Hisham encouraged people to download the myCuaca app to receive alerts on the weather and geological events.
"The app currently has more than 200,000 users and we hope more people will use it.
"We send updates on the weather, sea conditions and geological events through the application."