PAGASA: Rains may finally come in 2 weeks

After months of dry spells, Filipinos can finally expect some rains to come in two weeks - but will have to endure more hot weather in the meantime. The Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said temperatures in Metro Manila may reach 37 degrees this week. "Sa ngayon nagkakaroon sa lugar dito ng pag-ulan, pagkulog at pagkidlat sa hapon o gabi. Meron minsan nagpipintong pag-ulan na nagdudulot ng maalinsangan ng kapaligiran. Cycle naman yan pero siguro mga last part na ng May (For now there are occasional rainshowers and thunderstorms in the afternoon and evening. There are instances where the weather becomes humid shortly before rains come. This is a cycle but we generally expect rains to come in the last part of May)," PAGASA forecaster Elvie Enriquez said in an interview on dzBB radio. But she said that for now, Filipinos will have to continue putting up with hot weather, reaching 37 degrees Celsius in Metro Manila. She noted that on Monday, temperatures reached 37.3 degrees Celsius in Metro Manila at about 3 p.m. "Inaasahan umabot uli sa 37 degrees, o lumampas ang temperatura (We expect temperatures to go up again to 37 or even higher)," she said. On the other hand, PAGASA's extended weather forecast indicated temperatures in Metro Manila may range from 25 to 37 degrees up to Friday. Temperatures are expected to be even hotter in Tuguegarao City in Cagayan province, ranging from 25 to 38 degrees - and up to 39 degrees on Friday. Meanwhile, PAGASA said an intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) affecting Mindanao may bring cloudy skies with 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 cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms mostly in the afternoon or evening," PAGASA said in its 5 a.m. bulletin. — LBG, GMANews.TV