Sky dumps 4x average rainfall in Cebu
THE rainfall during Monday’s downpour was four times the average daily volume of rainfall for Cebu.
The weather bureau recorded 185.4 millimeters of rain within 24 hours from Dec. 26 to Dec. 27.
“The volume of rainfall is above normal. It usually does not exceed 180 millimeters,” said Alice Canasa, weather specialist of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pag-asa).
Canasa said the average rainfall for the rainy season of November, December and January is 50 mm.
Canasa said light to moderate rains would usually deliver an average rainfall of less than 60 mm in 24 hours.
Moderate rains would bring 60 mm rainfall while heavy rains from 60 mm to 180 mm of rainfall.
Canasa said Monday’s rainfall was “very heavy.”
“The last time something like this happened was last January,” she said.
The downpour evoked memories of the Jan. 25 deluge where Metro Cebu was hit by flashfloods after brief but torrential rains.
Within two hours alone, the weather station recorded a volume of 35 mm of rain and an average rate of 7.6 mm per hour that day, said Pag-asa chief Oscar Tabada.
Tabada, in a text message, said that as of 11 p.m. last Monday, Dec. 26, they measured 11 mm of rainfall in Cebu, 13.88 mm for Tagbilaran, 12 mm for Mambusao, Maasin, 38.3 mm for Borongan Samar, 10.2 mm for San Jose Mindoro.
He advised the provinces of Cebu and Bohol to take the necessary precautions to avoid hazards from flooding.
Yesterday’s rainfall hds an average rate of of 15.45 mm per hour, Canasa said.
She said the rains s in the Visayas were caused by the tail end of a cold front and the northeast monsoon.
Canasa said the northeast monsoon, which brings in nimbu-cumulo clouds, is also adding to the heavy rains.
Canasa said the tail end of the cold front would continue to affect Visayas, Mindanao and southern Luzon for four to five days, so the public should expect rain in celebrating New Year.
A low-pressure area 130 km northwest of Zamboanga City is about to exit the country before the end of the week and has no possibility of developing into a tropical depression, she said.
According to the Pagasa weather forecast, southern Luzon and Visayas will experience cloudy skies with scattered to widespread rainshowers and thunderstorms, which may trigger flash floods and landslides. /Reporter Candeze R. Mongaya
