'Wet' summer in the offing - Pagasa

A wet summer awaits Filipinos this year as state weather forecasters said Thursday the La Niña weather phenomenon is likely to hang around until June. Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) weather branch chief Nathaniel Cruz particularly cautioned residents in Eastern Visayas and Mindanao to be wary. "Maaring magtagal ito hanggang ... kalahating buwan ng Mayo o Hunyo. Matagal ito sa karaniwan (La Niña may stay until the second half of May or early June)," Cruz said in an interview on dzBB radio. He said the rains caused by La Niña had been behind the heavy rains that had caused landslides and flash floods in Eastern Samar and several parts of Southern Luzon and Bicol. Cruz said the rains would usually end in February or March, but La Niña has "extended" the rainy season so far. Areas most likely to be affected also include Northeast Mindanao such as Surigao and Agusan provinces, he said. "Kahit tag-araw meron tayong tag-ulan ... Baka makaapekto ito lalo sa agrikultura (Even during the summer we'll have rains. This may affect our agriculture)," he said. Meanwhile, Pagasa said Southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao will continue to experience cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms. These will become widespread rains over the Bicol region "which may trigger flashfloods and landslides," it said. Also, it said the tail-end of a cold front continues to affect Luzon while wind convergence still affects Visayas and Mindanao. Pagasa said the rest of Luzon will have mostly cloudy skies with scattered light rains. Moderate to strong winds blowing from the northeast will prevail over Luzon and Visayas and the coastal waters along these areas will be moderate to rough. Elsewhere, winds will be light to moderate blowing from the northeast and east with slight to moderate seas. - GMANews.TV