Pagasa: Temperatures to start getting warmer

Filipinos should expect temperatures to get warmer in the next few days as summer draws near and the El Niño weather phenomenon makes itself felt. The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said the El Niño in the equatorial Pacific continues to sustain its moderate strength. "Slightly warmer surface temperatures are expected for February. The ranges are as follows: 20 to 33 degrees Celsius over the lowlands of Luzon; 13 to 24 degrees Celsius for the mountainous areas of Luzon; 22 to 32 degrees Celsius for Visayas; 22 to 33 degrees Celsius over the lowlands of Mindanao; and 18 to 29 degrees Celsius over the mountainous areas of Mindanao," Pagasa said in its El Niño advisory. "Meanwhile, all concerned government agencies are advised to continue to take appropriate measures to mitigate the potential adverse impacts of El Niño to various sectors of the society," it added. Also, Pagasa said the climate for February will likely be influenced by the northeast monsoon, tail-end of the cold front, inter-tropical convergence zone, ridge of a high pressure area, and easterly wave. It added that there is a "slim chance" for a tropical cyclone occurrence. Pagasa said rainfall will likely be below normal over most parts of the country except for some areas in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Ilocos Region, Cagayan and eastern part of Mindanao where near normal rainfall is expected. "The rest of the country will likely experience way below normal rainfall condition," it said. Pagasa noted that in January, the average surface air temperature was generally warmer than normal over many parts of the country. This included 18 to 32 degrees Celsius over the lowlands of Luzon, 13 to 23 degrees Celsius for the mountainous areas of Luzon, 22 to 31 degrees Celsius for Visayas, 22 to 33 degrees Celsius over the lowlands of Mindanao, and 16 to 28 degrees Celsius over the mountainous areas of Mindanao. It said that while a gradual decrease in sea surface temperature is expected, it is "still within the El Niño threshold and likely to last up to June 2010." Weather systems that influenced the rainfall condition for January were the Northeast monsoon, the tail-end of a cold front, the ridge of High Pressure Area (HPA), the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and the low pressure area (LPA). "Persistent occurrence of ITCZ over the southern portion of the country has caused continuous heavy rains affecting CARAGA Region. This weather disturbance triggered flooding and landslides in the provinces of Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Norte and Dinagat. Another significant event during the month was the heavy rains over the mountainous area of Oriental Mindoro (Jan 17) caused by the NE monsoon activity," Pagasa said. Overall assessment of rainfall for the month of January was below to way below normal in most areas of Luzon and Region VI (Western Visayas). Near normal condition was observed in Regions IV-B (MIMAROPA), Bicol Region, Central Visayas, Northern Samar, and central Mindanao. On the other hand, the rest of Visayas and Mindanao have received above normal rainfall. Pagasa added the prevalence of the northeast monsoon affected the eastern portions of Visayas and Mindanao that brought rains for several days and eased the dry spell conditions experienced over the affected areas during the month of December. Areas that are still under a dry spell are Benguet, Batanes, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Viscaya, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Batangas, Iloilo, Antique, Guimaras and Negros Occidental. Some areas of Capiz province continue to experience drought. - LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV