PAGASA: PHL Remains Storm- Free until Weekend, Northeast Monsoon Continues to Affect PHL

(PNA) — The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said on Thursday the country will remain storm-free in the next three days.

In an interview, PAGASA weather forecaster Alvin Pura said the agency has not seen any weather disturbance near the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) that may develop into tropical cyclone within the next three days.

He said the agency expect zero to one tropical cyclone to affect the country this month.

However, Pura said the northeast monsoon continues to be the dominant weather system affecting Luzon and Eastern Visayas.

The cold northeast monsoon or “hanging amihan” is the cold winds that bring cloudy skies with light rains in the regions of Cagayan Valley, Cordillera, Bicol and Eastern Visayas and the provinces of Aurora and Quezon.

The rest of Luzon including Metro Manila will have partly cloudy to at times cloudy skies with isolated light rains while the rest of the Visayas and Mindanao will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms.

”The effect of northeast monsoon concentrates will bring cold mornings in some parts of Luzon including Metro Manila and the northeast monsoon usually peaks from mid-January to mid-February,” he told the Philippines News Agency (PNA).

Pura said the minimum temperature in Metro Manila on Thursday morning was recorded at 19.5 degrees Celsius at 6 a.m. which is the same on Wednesday.

Metro Manila’s temperature readings are being recorded daily in the vicinity of the PAGASA Science Garden in Diliman, Quezon City between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m.

The 18.0 degrees Celsius recorded last Tuesday in Metro Manila is so far the lowest for this year.

PAGASA said the all-time lowest temperature recorded in Metro Manila was at 14.9 degrees Celsius on March 1,1963.

Pura said the lowest temperature so far this year was recorded at 9.8 degrees Celsius in Baguio City on Monday.

The country’s summer capital temperature for Thursday will range from 12 to 29 degrees Celsius.

According to PAGASA’s climatological record, Baguio’s coldest temperature ever recorded was at 6.3 degrees on Jan. 18, 1961.

In its advisory, PAGASA said moderate to strong winds blowing from the northeast will prevail over the whole archipelago with moderate to rough seas.

The state-run weather bureau also issued a gale warning with the presence of strong northeast monsoon as the sea condition will be rough to very rough due to strong to gale force winds is expected to affect the seaboards of Northern and Central Luzon.

”Fishing boats and other small seacrafts are advised not to venture out into the sea while larger sea vessels are alerted against big waves,” it warned. (PNA) FPV/CLTC