BAGUIO CITY—Locals and tourists need a few extra layers to stay warm as this mountain city recorded its lowest temperature yet this year.
The weather station here reported that the mercury plunged to 10.4 degrees Celsius at 5 a.m. on Tuesday, beating last year’s 11.2 degrees Celsius recorded on March 11.
The nippy weather is caused by the north-east monsoon or “hanging amihan” in Northern Luzon combined with the low-pressure area that is affecting Visayas and Mindanao, said Wilson Lucando, a weather observer at the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration here.
The mercury gradually dropped in the last three weeks with temperature registering 12.4 degrees on January 8, dipped to 12 degrees on January 15, and then a slight rise to 12.5 degrees on January 18.
Meanwhile, it is slightly warmer in Mt. Sto. Tomas in Tuba, Benguet, where the temperature was 11.4 degrees on Tuesday morning. Mt. Sto Tomas is the highest point in Baguio, sitting at 2,260 meters above sea level. Valerie Damian /lzb