THE Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) yesterday declared the start of the rainy season.
The declaration ended a three-month dry season, or summer, which started on March 16.
This year’s rainy season came earlier compared to last year when the wet season began on June 4.
“The presence of frontal system and the occurrence of severe thunderstorms have brought rains during the last five days in areas under Type 1 climate and other parts of the country. Moreover, southwesterly windflow was also observed during the past few days,” PAGASA said in a statement.
“This satisfies the criteria of the start of the rainy season over the western sections of Luzon and Visayas,” it also said.
PAGASA said intermittent rains associated with the southwest monsoon will start affecting Metro Manila and the western sections of the country.
“Meanwhile, the ongoing La Niña may still affect some parts of the country, which may increase the likelihood of above-normal rainfall conditions in the coming days,” it said.
The weather agency also said it will continue to monitor the “day-to-day and long-term climate situation and provide updates when significant changes occur.”
In a weather forecast issued at 4 p.m. yesterday, PAGASA said Batanes, Babuyan and Ilocos Norte will have cloudy skies with rains due to the frontal system.
Metro Manila and the Calabarzon regions, the provinces of Bataan, Zambales, Pampanga, and Bulacan, and the rest of Ilocos region will have cloudy skies with scattered rain showers and thunderstorms due the southwesterly surface windflow.
The rest of the country will have partly cloudy to cloudy skies with isolated rain showers and thunderstorms due to localized thunderstorms.
