Metro Manila’s rains not due to rainy season yet — PAGASA

The skies were gray and the ground wet after a downpour early Thursday morning in some parts of Metro Manila, but the recent respite from the summer heat does not signal yet the onset of the rainy season. Rusy Abastillas of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical & Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) told GMANews.TV that before they declare the coming of the rainy season, some criteria must be met. She said PAGASA is monitoring rainfall in its stations in areas with type 1 climate [places with maximum rain period from June to September and a dry season which lasts from three to six months]. According to her, if for five consecutive days the rainfall in those areas totals 25mm or more, with three consecutive days having rainfall not lower than 1 mm in more than half of the stations being monitored, then the rainy season has "officially" arrived. Abastillas said that in some stations in Northern Luzon, the criteria have already been met, adding that rainy season might be declared within this week by PAGASA’s weather forecasting division. "Ulan na lang ang hinihintay," she said, explaining that the criteria also requires southwest winds, which are already present.

Thursday’s rains, however, were caused by a low-pressure area (LPA) estimated at 600 km west of northern Luzon, she said. [See: New LPA to bring rains, may become cyclone this weekend] In a report on its website, PAGASA said Luzon and the Visayas will experience cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms while Mindanao will be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms mostly in the afternoon or evening. — Carmela Lapeña/LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV.