RP experiencing ‘abnormal summer’

MANILA, Philippines – It shouldn’t be raining in summer, and the intermittent rains could be an indication of climate change, the chief of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) warned yesterday.

Pagasa administrator Prisco Nilo said that the prevalence of various rain-producing weather systems like the cold front, intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) and low-pressure area during this time of the year is “abnormal.”

Heavy rains poured over Metro Manila yesterday morning brought by the tail-end of a cold front which is affecting Central and Southern Luzon and the Visayas.

Nilo said the cold front would continue to affect the National Capital Region in the next 24 hours.

Nathaniel Cruz, Pagasa deputy director for operations and services officer-in-charge, earlier said that if rains would continue to prevail this April, Filipinos could expect an early onset of the rainy season.

The usual onset of the rainy season is during the second or third week of May.

Cruz noted that Metro Manila received “above normal” rainfall last month, with total amount of rainfall recorded in Metro Manila from March 1 to 29 topping 100 millimeters, way above the 22-millimeter monthly precipitation in Metro Manila over a 30-year period.

Cruz said the above normal rain experienced in Metro Manila and other parts of the country could also be due to the “La Niña-like” condition persisting over the Pacific Ocean.

La Niña is a weather phenomenon that is characterized by excessive rainfall.

Meanwhile, in a weather bulletin yesterday, Pagasa said that aside from the tail-end of a cold front, the ITCZ is also affecting Mindanao.

Pagasa said Central and Southern Luzon and the Visayas would experience mostly cloudy skies with scattered rains and isolated thunderstorms.

Mindanao and Palawan, on the other hand, would have mostly cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms.

The rest of the country would be partly cloudy to cloudy with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms mostly in the afternoon or evening.

Pagasa said light to moderate winds blowing from the southeast and southwest would prevail over Luzon and the Visayas and coming from the northeast and northwest over Mindanao. The coastal waters throughout the archipelago would be slight to moderate. –Helen Flores, Philippine Star