Lombok Weather

Indonesia - Jakarta - Lombok - Semarang - Yogyakarta - Bali The Indonesian island of Lombok belongs to the province of West Nusa Tenggara and a part and parcel of the Lesser Sunda Islands while it’s separated from Bali by the Lombok Strait. Lombok is a circular island with its administrative capital being Mataram which is also the largest city the island has. The eastern part of Lombok initially came to be settled and inhabited by the Dutch community in the year 1764 while the Hindu dynasty ruled the western portion of the island. The Stratovolcano Mount Rinjani soaring up to a height of 12,224 ft determines the topographical discipline of Lombok. The list of cities to visit while in Lombok is Bangsal, Kuta, Lembar, Mataram, and Senggigi while the Gili Islands and the Mount Rinjani are two other tourist sites in Lombok. Presently this island is inhabited mostly by the Sasak group and Balinese group while the Chinese, Arabs, Javanese and Sumbawanese consist of the remaining population in Lombok. It’s necessary on the part of the travelers to have a clear insight about the climatic and weather condition of Lombok before taking plunge into the mystifying island of Lombook.

The tropical weather in Lombok renders 12 hours of broad day light and the average temperature round the year remains consistent at 28 degree C to 34 degree C (that is 83 degree F to 93 degree F). The months of October to March experience wet season while the months of May to September display the dry season in Lombok. Lombok covering an area of 4,725 sq km, 1,824 sq miles supports a population of 3,000,000 and the official language spoken in Lombok is Indonesian. Technically speaking Lombok is under advanced compared to Bali and also boasts of better beaches, diverse landscapes and a gigantic volcano. Mostly travelers haunt this place attracted to the inebriated beauty of the island as they can conveniently enough indulge in activities like diving, snorkeling, hiking and surfing etc. Lombok as a tourist destination attracts more tourists in the rainy season between October to December, though raining continues for a mere time span of approximately an hour, while the aspect of tourism is at its best during May to August. Few other places to visit while in Lombok are, Kuta, Museum Negeri Nusa Tenggara Barat, Pura Lingsar, and Taman Narmada.

Lombok weather on the whole is drier compared to Bali even during the rainy season and for the rest of the year the island is located around 200 miles to the south of the equator and offers a hot and humid environment to its residents and tourists in unison. Here day starts at around 6.30 in the morning and sun sets on this island at around 6.30 in the evening and being so humid in nature it’s hard to mention the time of the year unless one considers the present climatic condition. The temperature in the months of May and October remain as high as 80 degree to 90 degree during the day time and the weather is marginally pleasant in the evening though internally the temperature can be quite high. One exception is Mt Rinjani which offers a comparatively chilly temperature being at a higher altitude during the normal seasons. Lombok situated near the equator maintains parity in its weather conditions be it in dry season or in rainy season, as this mostly refers to the condition of the wind and not to the condition of the rain. The winter months are signified due to the breezes which pick up pace compared to the summer months when the environment is comparatively dull and drab. On the whole Lombok can be said to be a peaceful and serene tourist location with a fixed level of weather condition.

History of Lombok

Indonesia - Jakarta - Lombok - Semarang - Yogyakarta - Bali Lombok is regarded as one of the most spectacular of all of Indonesia’s islands. Though visions of idyllic Bali, modern fast paced Jakarta are conjured up in the minds of the people whenever, the name of Indonesia crops up, Indonesia is much more than the relatively well cities and islands as a whole, Indonesia is also about tempting virgin beaches, innocent and naïve villagers, simple life styles and truly exotic cuisine. It is also about Lombok. Relatively unravaged by time and marauding travelers from all over the world, Lombok is slowly but surely revealing herself to the world. The island of Lombok is to the east of her most famous neighbor, Bali. The straight which divides these two islands is very deep with innumerable whirlpools and dancing dolphins. The history of Lombok gives a fascinating insight into how the island evolved over the centuries to become what it is today. Though it is quite a task to delve deep into the ancient history of Lombok because of a paucity of chronicled articles, what is known is that in the ancient times, Lombok had native rulers who ruled over this province and Selaparang (a small kingdom) had some control over the eastern side of the island.

It was in the seventh century that the veil over this island started lifting with outside influences. Lombok came under the influence of Balinese and Makassarese of Sulawesi. The Balinese arrived from Karangasem crossing the Lombok Strait in the early part of the seventeenth century and around the same time, the Makassarese invaded the eastern part of the island. 1677 was a landmark year in the history of Lombok, it was in this year that the two intruders managed to subdue the other one. Balinese won as they had the help of the native Sasak aristocracy. Henceforth, it became a Balinese obsession to secure and maintain their control over this island. However with the passage of time, it was found that the Balinese control over Lombok had run into hard times and the beginning of the nineteenth century saw Pagesangan, Pagutan, Mataram and Cakranegara competing for the island.

1894 changed the course of Lombok’s destiny. From this year Lombok began her journey as one of the colonies of the Dutch. Balinese army had attacked the Dutch camp in Mayura Palace, Cakranegara. Though the Dutch escaped, they could not escape casualties to artillery and man. Now they were determined to pay back the Balinese and this resulted in their taking total control of Lombok.

Lombok now started to realize what colonialism meant. There was abject poverty and they were on the verge of starvation on more than one occasion. The Dutch wanted control as well as personal profit. Heavy taxation was another area of concern for the Lombok population along with exportation of food materials. The last straw on the camel’s back was famine which tormented Lombok for nearly half a century.

So continued Lombok’s tryst with destiny. But suddenly in 1945, Lombok had a new sun rising . Soekarno arrogated that Indonesia was independent and Lombok was also a part of this new order of things. But in 1965, after a difficult two decades, mass killings of Communist sympathizers and ethnic Chinese created a scar for ages to come on Lombok. It was President Suharto who can be credited with much of the growth and stability of this island, but here it has to be mentioned that in comparison to Bali and Java’s glitz and glamour, Lombok comes a poor second. Now this island is slowly gaining its place under the sun as a distinguished alternative to Bali in the tourism world.