Kota Bharu sits on Peninsular Malaysia’s east coast, where the northeast monsoon from November through January brings the country’s most severe seasonal flooding, in stark contrast to the relatively dry southwest monsoon months from May to September.
Kelantan’s capital sits on the Kelantan River, one of Peninsular Malaysia’s most flood-prone waterways, having flooded catastrophically during the 2014-15 monsoon disaster. The catastrophic 2014-15 monsoon floods, among the worst in Malaysia’s modern history, displaced hundreds of thousands of people across this coast and remain the reference event for how quickly the region’s rivers can rise, making radar tracking of incoming monsoon rain bands essential each winter. Learn more: Flash Flood Warning Signs on Radar · Open the full Rain Map