Hottest day: Metro folk swelter in 36.6°C heat

DOG DAY AFTERNOON A motorcycle rider takes his dog for a spin as temperature soars to over 36 degrees Celsius on Sunday in Alabang, Muntinlupa City. AP/BULLIT MARQUEZ

Metro Manila and most of Luzon might be wilting under an unforgiving summer sun, but Eastern Visayas is finding sweet relief in occasional rainshowers that have tempered the heat of recent days.

As Manila sweltered at 36.6 degrees Celsius Monday—the highest this year so far—Tacloban City experienced intermittent rains the whole day Monday.

The rains were a welcome respite for residents of Tacloban whose hottest day was recorded at 32.5 degrees Celsius on April 15, with average humidity level at 31.8 degrees Celsius.

The local Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) office said that for the next three to four days, Tacloban could experience more rains due to the low pressure area spotted north northwest of General Santos City.

Other areas in Eastern Visayas also experienced scattered rainshowers, said a staff member of the local Pagasa office who did not want to be named.

The highest temperature reading in Metro Manila this year was taken around 2 p.m. Monday at Pagasa Science Garden in Quezon City, prompting the weather bureau to warn residents against heat stroke and exhaustion. The previous maximum temperature reading in Metro Manila for 2012 was 36.4 degrees Celsius, which was recorded last Friday.

Jori Loiz, a Pagasa forecaster, said Filipinos felt even hotter than the recorded temperature because of the humidity in the atmosphere, which was measured at 46 percent. Moisture in the air pushed the felt temperature yesterday to an estimated 40 degrees Celsius-41 degrees Celsius, Loiz explained.

Other parts of Metro Manila also sizzled on Monday. Temperatures reached 35.6 degrees Celsius in Port Area, Manila and 35.9 degrees Celsius at Ninoy Aquino International Airport. In northern Luzon, as of 2 p.m. Monday, Tuguegarao baked at 37 degrees Celsius, according to Pagasa.

Loiz said Metro Manila and provinces in the western seaboard as well as parts of Central Visayas would soon feel a respite from the heat because of rainshowers, as the country enters the wet season later this month.

“We will soon have isolated rainshowers. We are now in the transition period for the habagat (southwest monsoon),” Loiz said. This weather system will dump rains in the affected areas usually in the afternoon, he said.

Pagasa said Luzon is still under the ridge of high pressure, which is associated with warm weather and clear skies. Loiz said this weather system is seen to last until Wednesday.

Temperature in the capital rarely breaches 37 degrees, Pagasa said. The highest temperature recorded in Metro Manila was on May 14,1987 at 38.5 degrees Celsius.

The highest temperature recorded in the country was 42.2 degrees Celsius in Tuguegarao on April 29, 1912 and again on May 11, 1969. With a report from Joey Gabieta, Inquirer Visayas