Coolest temperature marks tail end of ‘amihan’

MANILA, Philippines – The temperature in Metro Manila is not expected to dip any further in the coming days, but the cool climate will continue across the country until the end of the northeast monsoon, or “amihan,” by the middle of March, according to the state weather bureau.

Last year, La Trinidad, Benguet, on Dec. 30, 2021, recorded the coldest temperature at 7.7º C, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said on Tuesday.

Pagasa weather specialist Anna Clauren added that Baguio City, on the same date, had the coolest temperature on record at 10.6ºC, while Metro Manila settled at 20.1ºC also on Dec. 30 of last year.

This is amid the cold temperature being experienced, especially at night, mostly in different regions of Luzon including Metro Manila and the Cordillera Administrative Region, which includes the province of Benguet.

As of Tuesday, Clauren said Metro Manila, based on the monitoring from the Science Garden station, recorded a “minimum” of 23ºC, a little bit higher than the 21.1ºdegrees recorded on Jan. 3.

Baguio City, on the other hand, recorded 11ºC as of Tuesday morning while the town of La Trinidad had 10.8ºC, Clauren added.

Pagasa’s monitoring showed that Zamboanga City experienced 36ºC, based on the station’s monitoring there while Port Area in Manila recorded 31.4ºC as of the Jan. 3 observation.

In the next four days, Clauren told the Inquirer that Metro Manila’s temperature may hover around 22ºC to 23ºC, but she said it was not certain whether this was a contributing factor to the flu season.

She added that the given estimate of the temperature in the capital region is not expected to dip any further.

The peak of the cold weather, because of the northeast monsoon, may remain until February, Clauren said, and the weather system will last until mid-March.