THE Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) yesterday declared the end of the southwest monsoon (“habagat”) season, which means cooler temperature is expected.
PAGASA officer-in-charge Nathaniel Servando said the country is transitioning to the northeast monsoon or “amihan” season which is expected to start in the coming weeks.
The southwest monsoon, which occurs usually from May to September, brings “warm moist winds from the southwest causing rains over the western portion of the country,” said PAGASA.
The northeast monsoon, on the other hand, brings “cold winds from the northeast that bring rains over the eastern side of the country.”
“Recent analyses showed that a significant weakening of the southwest monsoon has been observed over the past few days,” said Servando.
Servando also noted that the “strengthening of the high-pressure system in East Asia has led to a gradual change in the weather patterns.”
“With these developments, the southwest monsoon season is now officially over,” said Servando.
Servando said the country “is now in a gradual transition to the northeast monsoon season and may be apparent and declared in the coming weeks.”
He said there is still an increased likelihood of below-average rainfall, which may lead to dry spells and droughts, in some areas due to the prevailing El Niño.
He said this “will likely be manifested during the last quarter of the year up to the first quarter of 2024.”
“This may adversely affect the different climate-sensitive sectors such as water resources, agriculture, energy, health, public safety, and other key sectors in the country,” said Servando.
Meanwhile, a cloud cluster off Palawan developed into a low pressure area (LPA) yesterday, morning, bringing to two the LPAs being monitored by PAGASA inside the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR).
In a public weather forecast, PAGASA weather specialist Patrick del Mundo said the new LPA has a slim chance of developing into a tropical cyclone “within the next 48 hours.” He said the LPA, which developed at around 2 a.m. yesterday, was some 135 km west of Coron town as of yesterday morning. It will bring rains to parts of the Mimaropa region, southern Luzon, and the Visayas.
Del Mundo said the LPA may exit the PAR during the weekend.
The other LPA was some 860 km east of Eastern Visayas as of yesterday morning. It has also a slim chance of becoming a tropical cyclone.
“It’s possible it will merge with the trough of a (super) typhoon outside the Philippine area of responsibility,” Del Mundo said.
The super typhoon has the international name “Bolaven” and was some 2,190 km east of extreme northern Luzon as of yesterday morning.
Del Mundo said Bolaven was expected to recurve towards southern Japan later yesterday.
AID
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) said it started yesterday the distribution of P1.1 billion worth of emergency cash transfer (ECT) assistance to families affected by super typhoon “Egay” in July.
The DSWD said the ECT, which is an outright cash aid for disaster-affected families in areas under a state of calamity, can be used for other immediate needs of the affected families.
A total of 178,396 qualified beneficiaries in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), and Regions I (Ilocos), II (Cagayan Valley), III (Central Luzon), and MIMAROPA will benefit from the ECT.
