PAGASA: Brace for 37-degree temperature during weekend

A hot weekend looms in Metro Manila with temperatures likely to go up to 37 degrees Celsius, state weather forecasters said Friday. Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) forecaster Gener Quitlong said the day is likely to be at its hottest between 1 and 3 p.m. “Sa ngayon maaring umabot ng 36. Makukuha natin ang maximum temperature mamaya 1 hanggang 3 p.m. (For Friday we expect temperatures to reach 36˚C, likely between 1 and 3 p.m.)," Quitlong said in an interview on dzBB radio. He said this will be hotter than the 35.8 degrees recorded last Thursday. He said Friday’s forecast temperature will be between 24 and 36˚C. But PAGASA’s extended forecast also indicated even hotter weather in Tuguegarao City during the weekend, with temperatures ranging from 24 to 38˚C. The heat had prompted health authorities to advise the public to take precautions against heat stroke. Last Tuesday, a Manila-based radio reporter, Romulo “Molly" Angeles, suffered from heat stroke during a media coverage and died Thursday. Meanwhile, PAGASA said easterly winds affecting Mindanao may bring scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms. “Mindanao will experience mostly cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms. The rest of the country will have partly cloudy to at times cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms," it said in its 5 a.m. bulletin. On Tuesday, PAGASA recorded the hottest day so far this year, with temperatures reaching 36.1 degrees. But PAGASA forecaster Elvie Enriquez predicted hotter weather as the cold front is now moving up. “Sa susunod na araw inaasahan natin mas iinit sa muling pag-akyat ng cold front at daloy ng hanging easterly surface windflow (It will be hotter in the coming days as the cold front moves north and the easterly winds come in)," Enriquez said in an interview on dzBB radio Thursday. — LBG, GMANews.TV