THE Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) yesterday announced the termination of the northeast monsoon (“amihan”) and the start of warm and dry season.
“Recent analyses indicate a retreat of the high-pressure area over Siberia, which resulted in the weakening of northeasterly winds and an increase in the air temperature over most parts of the country,” said PAGASA administrator Vicente Malano in a statement.
Malano also noted the strengthening of the North Pacific High which he said has led to a “gradual shift in the wind pattern from northeasterly to easterly.”
“These signify the end of the northeast monsoon and the beginning of the warm and dry season, which is expected to last until May,” he also said.
Malano said “warmer temperatures are expected” in the coming months and “rainfall across the country will be influenced mostly by easterlies and localized thunderstorms.”
“The public is advised to take precautionary measures to minimize heat stress and optimize the daily use of water for personal and domestic consumption,” Malano also said.
The termination of the northeast monsoon and the start of the warm and dry season came a week after PAGASA declared the end of La Niña, a weather phenomenon that increases the likelihood of above normal rainfall conditions.
PAGASA senior weather specialist Chris Perez, at the “Laging Handa” public briefing, said the country will experiencing “normal condition” in the rest of the month until June.
“When we say normal, there is no El Niño or La Niña. Our projection is the new El Niño episode will start possibly in July onwards,” said Perez.
“As of now, our projection in terms of rainfall, prior to El Niño, is near normal to above normal throughout the country. But of course when El Niño starts, we’re going to have a new projection, we’ll likely experience below normal amount of rainfall,” added Perez.
During the transition period, PAGASA is not ruling out isolated rain showers, especially on the afternoon and evening, due to localized thunderstorms, Perez said.
“We are not also ruling out the possibility that for the month of March, April and May, we are going to monitor at least one tropical cyclone,” he said.
