MANILA, Philippines? Not even the heat of the election campaign can prevent the mercury from dropping at this time of the year.

The temperature in Metro Manila over the past few days has dropped below November averages, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration said Thursday.

The minimum temperature in the metropolis dropped to 19.8 degrees Celsius on Wednesday and to 19.7 degrees on Thursday, lower by a little more than two degrees from the November levels, according to Cris Perez of the Pagasa weather section.

The reading was taken between 4:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. at the Pagasa facilities in Quezon City.

?For November, the average minimum temperature for the last 30 years is at 22 degrees Celsius. So, what we are experiencing now is really cold weather,? Perez said.

For Baguio City, the minimum temperature recorded on Thursday was 12.1 degrees, slightly lower than the 12.4 degrees of Wednesday. The readings were also taken between 4:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m.

The record minimum temperature registered in Baguio was 6.3 degrees in January 1961. This is also the record for the lowest temperature in the country.

For Metro Manila, the record stands at 14.5 degrees, taken at the Port Area in January 1914.

Perez attributed the drop in temperatures to the surge of the northeast monsoon, known as the ?amihan,? the cold air from the northern hemisphere that starts to blow into the country from October to March.

While the temperatures drop, Pagasa is tracking a tropical depression, ?Vinta,? spotted 1,140 kilometers east northeast of Basco, Batanes.

Vinta is packing maximum sustained winds of 75 km per hour near the center with gustiness of up to 90 kph. While the system is currently stationary, it is too far to affect any part of the country.