Weather: Amihan now felt in north Luzon

The cool amihan (northeast monsoon) winds associated with the Christmas season are now being felt in northern Luzon, but may not be felt in Metro Manila until December, state weather forecasters said Monday. Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration forecaster Elvie Enriquez said areas in northern Luzon like Baguio are already experiencing lows of 13 degrees Celsius. "Sa Baguio 13 to 26, nararamdaman na riyan ang Amihan. Dito (sa Metro Manila), hindi pa masyado although inaasahan natin pagpasok ng December mararamdaman natin ang dalang simoy ng hangin ng Amihan," Enriquez said in an interview on dzBB radio. Earlier, Enriquez said the cold winds from amihan have yet to be felt as there is no high-pressure area that will block the warm winds from the east. Another PAGASA forecaster, Sonny Pajarilla, said the amihan is likely to reach up to Central Luzon before the month ends. "Ang (Amihan) nasa Central Luzon pa, lang wala pa sa atin. Hindi pa umabot ganap sa Metro Manila. Inaasahan natin bago matapos ang buwan ng Nobyembre, mararanasan na natin ang palo-palo ng northeast na hangin natin," Pajarilla said in an interview on dzRH radio. In the meantime, Enriquez said there is no weather disturbance near Philippine territory. She said an inter-tropical convergence zone is affecting Mindanao while a diffused tail-end of a cold front is affecting Extreme Northern Luzon. PAGASA's 5 a.m. bulletin said the eastern section of extreme northern Luzon, Palawan and Mindanao will experience mostly cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms. The rest of the country will be partly cloudy to at times cloudy with isolated rain showers or thunderstorms, it added. Meanwhile, strong to gale-force winds associated with the surge of northeasterly surface windflow may affect the seabords of northern and Central Luzon and eastern seaboards of Southern Luzon and the Visayas. — RSJ, GMA News