‘Amihan’ to bring light rain across Luzon

There is a slim chance of flooding in the Cagayan Valley region due to the prevailing northeast monsoon, locally known as “amihan,” the state weather bureau said on Friday.

Light rain is also expected to affect the Cordillera Administrative Region and the province of Aurora, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).

Raymond Ordinario, weather specialist of Pagasa, said the northeast monsoon might cause flash floods and landslides after torrential rain but he said only the Cagayan Valley region was likely to suffer from these incidents due to its mountainous areas.

“There are mountains there [in the Cagayan Valley region] left and right but usually, if there is a shear line, then those incidents would be more possible to happen,” he told the Inquirer.

A different situation was forecast for Cordillera and Aurora province, which Ordinario described as areas to have low possibilities of experiencing those incidents.

Ordinario stressed that flash floods and landslides will only be expected in Cordillera if the southwest monsoon or “habagat” is affecting the country. Aurora, on the other hand, will only experience cloudy skies with light rain.

The northeast monsoon also prompted the weather bureau to record one of the lowest temperatures, since the seasonal wind was declared in October, in Baguio City, which recorded 12 degrees Celsius at 4:50 a.m. on Friday.

Pagasa, however, said La Trinidad, Benguet, remained the holder of the record lowest temperature since the declaration of the northeast monsoon, which was at 11 degrees celsius.

Due to the northeast monsoon, Sheila Reyes, also a Pagasa weather specialist, pointed out that Northern Luzon will experience most of its effects, especially Baguio and its main province, Benguet.